Noon Business Lunch

Segment 1: Tom Gimbel, job expert and founder of LaSalle Network, joins John to talk about the importance of good leadership, how good leaders are able to successfully manage talent, the controversy surrounding Bears coach Ben Johnson using profanity in the locker room, and the labor and business stories that he’s paying attention to in 2026. Go Bears.

Segment 2: Dennis Rodkin, residential real estate reporter for Crain’s, joins John Williams to talk about the general outlook on residential home prices in 2026, and a number of his recent stories including the National Association of Realtors’ top economist seeing better affordability in 2026, President Trump wanting to ban investors from buying up houses, a Gold Coast mansion that sold for 5.1 million, and the areas in the Chicago area that are showing the most sales growth.

Segment 1: Faron Daugs, CFP, Founder and CEO, Harrison Wallace Financial Group, joins John to talk about his expectations for the market for 2026, President Trump’s call to cap credit card rates for one year at 10%, the Department of Justice opening a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, his outlook for Fed policy this year, the president now wanting to address affordability,

Segment 2:  Jim Dallke, Director of Communications, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, tells John about a new national bill that will help accelerate Illinois’ quantum ambitions, and Chicago-based Brunswick launching its driverless boating tech at CES last week.

Segment 3: Matt Adams, principal at Deloitte Consulting specializing in retail, breaks down Deloitte’s 2026 Retail Industry Global Outlook.

Nationally syndicated financial columnist and author Terry Savage joins John Williams to talk about 2025 stock market performance and what to expect from the market in 2026. Also joining the show this week is James Stack, Founder and CEO, Stack Financial Management, who tells John and Terry why he believes the market is overvalued.

Segment 1: Brad Henderson, CEO, P33, joins John Williams to talk about why he’s excited about Chicago’s tech landscape in 2026.

Segment 2: Scott Stein, Editor at Large, CNET, tells John about the best things he saw at CES 2026.

Segment 3: Mitch Lyons, founder of Mitch Lyons Wealth, joins John to talk about retirement planning and what you need to know about Roth IRA conversions.

Segment 4: Ted Rossman, Bankrate.com Senior industry analyst, joins John to talk about Bankrate’s Interest Rate Forecast for 2026.

Segment 1: Phillip Shaw, CFP, Senior Advisor, Goldstone Financial Group, joins John Williams to talk about the market rally to begin the year, why the market continues to perform so well, what he thinks of the situation in Venezuela and the impact on the market, the job market continuing to cool, what that means for interest rates moving forward, and what they are telling clients for 2026.

Segment 2: Matt Schultz, LendingTree chief credit analyst, joins John to break down Lending Tree’s Holiday Debt survey.

Segment 3: Jeff Wolfthal, Program development specialist, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, joins John to tell us everything we need to know about the nature museum’s Founders Day Celebration.

Segment 1: Tom Gimbel, job expert and founder of LaSalle Network, joins John to talk about the outlook for the 2026 labor market, and how that will impact the economy overall.

Segment 2: Philippe Weiss, President, Seyfarth at Work, joins John to talk about 2026 being a year for a ‘union resurgence.’

Segment 3: Michael Miller, Economics Professor, Western Washington University and Professor Emeritus at DePaul University, joins John to talk about Tesla no longer being the the #1 seller of EVs worldwide, how the US economy compares to other parts of the world, why the stock market has been rallying in 2026, and if he’s surprised that tariffs haven’t had a big impact on the economy.

Segment 1: Ilyce Glink, owner of Think Glink Media, joins John Williams to talk about why the market is rallying today and to break down the biggest 2026 real estate trends.

Segment 2: Jim Dallke, Director of Communications, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, tells John about Groupon working on their rebound story, and Uber being in talks to acquire Chicago parking app SpotHero.

Segment 1: Steven Esposito, President of Yellowstone Wealth Management in Lake Forest, joins John to talk about the spectacular market returns for the last few years, why he’s happy that the market is broadening, why it’s likely that interest rates will continue to fall, if there is any concern about inflation, the importance of a broad based portfolio, tariffs not negatively impacting the economy overall, and why he remains bullish on 2026.

Segment 2: Tom Appel, Publisher, Consumer Guide Automotive and host of the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast, joins John Williams to talk about Tesla sales falling and losing the title as the world’s biggest EV maker, what we should know about Chinese rival BYD, consumers wanting hybrid vehicles, the challenge of buying a new vehicle right now, and to answer all of your auto industry questions.

Nationally syndicated financial columnist and author Terry Savage joins John Williams to answer listener questions and talk about the end of the year!

Segment 1 & 2: Tom Gimbel, job expert and founder of LaSalle Network, joins John to talk about year-end reviews, starting 2026 off on the right foot, and how journaling you wins and losses professionally can help your career.

Segment 3: Paul Nolte, Senior Wealth Advisor and Market Strategist, Murphy & Sylvest, joins John to discuss inflation, market momentum, and what investors should realistically expect as the economy heads into the new year.

Segment 4: Michael Miller, Economics Professor, Western Washington University and Professor Emeritus at DePaul University, explains to John the Fed’s latest moves, wage growth versus inflation, and why the economy may be stronger than it feels for many Americans.