Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors and author of The Institutional Risk Analyst blog, joins The Julia La Roche Show for "The Wrap with Chris Whalen" for his 2026 outlook.

In this episode, Whalen warns of a market correction comparable to 2008, driven by carnage in private equity where hundreds of companies cannot be sold and sponsors are selling companies to themselves. After a decade-and-a-half Fed liquidity party, he predicts corporate credit will worsen in 2026, setting the stage for a housing market decline in 2027-28. Whalen reveals fraud has become epidemic in housing thanks to AI-altered bank statements, discusses the global power shift as Shanghai now sets gold prices (not Chicago or London), and explains why Powell will likely stay on the Fed board through 2028 to protect the institution - betraying Trump just like every Fed chair before him.

Links:    

The Institutional Risk Analyst: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/ 

https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/post/theira794

Inflated book (2nd edition): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inflated-r-christopher-whalen/1146303673

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rcwhalen    

Website: https://www.rcwhalen.com/   

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro and welcome back to The Wrap with Chris Whalen

01:25 2025 retrospective

3:35 Big stories of 2026

05:30 Midterms

08:21 Maxi market correction coming alongside 2008 in textbooks

15:09 Will Powell retire or remain on the board?

16:45 Will we see a more hawkish Fed in 2026?

17:50 Default rates

21:25 What happens with housing in 2026

22:42 Drawing parallels to the Gilded Age

26:29 Gold and silver - another good year ahead

32:41 Viewer question: Annaly mortgage REIT common vs preferred

36:48 What's on the radar next week: Big investment banks piece

38:18 Wrap up and where to find Chris Whalen

Peter Grandich delivers his most bearish outlook in a 40+ year career, predicting 2026-2027 could be the most challenging years in 50 years due to mounting debt ($38T heading to $50T), political division worse than any time since the Civil War, and a deteriorating middle class hanging by its fingernails. He explains why this was his best five-year period after moving entirely into gold and precious metals in 2021, with price targets of $5,000 for gold and $100 for silver still ahead. He warns we're in the earliest stages of becoming a banana republic as BRICS launches a gold-backed trading unit and de-dollarization accelerates.

This episode is brought to you by VanEck. 

Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXJulia

Links:

https://x.com/PeterGrandich

https://petergrandich.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-FORMER-Wall-Street-Whiz/dp/B096LPRYW6

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and welcome Peter Grandich

01:17 Macro view - not a lot of positive things to say

09:47 Best year in five years - gold and precious metals trade

13:52 Oil prediction: $50 before $150

15:12 Deteriorating middle class hanging by fingernails

21:41 Most concerned he's ever been in 40+ year career

23:01 Trump's trade war mistakes

28:21 De-dollarization and dollars coming back to US

30:18 Solutions: Return to moral compass and faith

35:48 Wealth preservation vs appreciation for investors

41:31 Passive investing

45:12 The 12 factors of why party like 1929 will bite back

47:58 Biblical wisdom on debt and finances

49:19 Parting thoughts

Carol Roth, a “recovering” investment banker, financial television commentator, entrepreneur, and two-time New York Times best-selling author, joins Julia La Roche again for episode 321. Carol delivers a sobering assessment of America's broken fiscal foundation with debt-to-GDP over 120%, explaining why the K-shaped economy is creating a non-merit-based divide driven by policy and the administrative class wealth transfer. She discusses the wealth paradox - despite abundance, Americans are more stressed than ever due to housing, education, and healthcare costs - and predicts inflation will be the release valve for our debt crisis. Roth shares her bullish thesis on gold and precious metals as central banks shift away from US Treasuries, explains why the Fed's tools are now irrelevant in this fiscal dominance era, and reveals her predictions for 2026 including decoupling from European allies, Fed chaos, and wild out-of-the-box policies.

This episode is brought to you by VanEck. 

Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXJulia

Links:  

You Will Own Nothing: https://www.carolroth.com/nothing/

Follow Carol Roth on X: https://x.com/caroljsroth

Timestamps: 

00:00 Intro and welcome Carol Roth

00:57 Big picture macro view: Broken fiscal foundation

04:07 K-shaped economy debate and wealth paradox

11:46 Administrative class wealth transfer problem

18:33 Is Trump going to fix the broken fiscal foundation?

24:37 Do rate cuts help everyday Americans?

30:51 Gold as hedge and insurance policy

37:50 "You Will Own Nothing" - what's changed since 2023

45:33 Predictions for 2026

48:58 Wrap up and where to find Carol

Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors and author of The Institutional Risk Analyst blog, joins The Julia La Roche Show for "The Wrap with Chris Whalen."

In this episode, Chris Whalen breaks down why Kevin Hassett may have blown his chances for Fed Chair by walking back Trump's views, discusses Kevin Warsh as the emerging frontrunner, and explains his reform proposal to return to a decentralized Fed with 15 district banks focused solely on sound money. He reveals why Trump's rhetoric about interest rates is backfiring (pushing the 10-year UP instead of down), predicts a home price correction in 2027-28, and explains why 3% inflation is now the new target. Whalen also discusses why gold and silver are still in early innings, how commercial real estate pain is being quietly resolved in the background, why good bank numbers mask concerning private credit risks, and answers a viewer question about BOJ rate hikes potentially triggering a broader correction.

Links:    

The Institutional Risk Analyst: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/ 

https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/post/theira785

Inflated book (2nd edition): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inflated-r-christopher-whalen/1146303673

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rcwhalen    

Website: https://www.rcwhalen.com/   

https://international-economy.com/TIE_Su25_Whalen.pdf

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome Chris Whalen

01:10 Kevin Hassett: Did he blow his chances for Fed Chair?

03:38 Reforming the Fed: Decentralized model vs FDR's changes

04:11 How decentralization would change Fed policy

06:08 Fed must be independent of President, not Congress

07:44 Post-1935 power concentration with Fed Chair

08:11 How centralization distorted monetary policy

09:17 Has the Fed been acting like its own hedge fund?

10:30 Home price correction coming in 2027-28

11:14 Subscribe reminder

11:52 Trump's rate talk pushing yields UP not down

12:56 Advice to Trump: Talk about growth and jobs, not rates

14:09 Kevin Warsh as emerging frontrunner for Fed Chair

15:17 Scrap the dual mandate, focus on sound currency

16:41 CPI print this week: 3% is the new target

17:23 Raising conforming limits encourages more inflation

18:42 Gold, sound money, and what Treasury should do

20:14 Is sound money viable?

21:33 Roosevelt's New Deal legacy and today's problems

22:53 Silver all-time high, gold north of $4,300 - still early innings

24:22 Commercial real estate pain and which banks are exposed

27:10 Private credit, NDFIs and why good bank numbers are concerning

29:37 Inflation driving everything in New York and beyond

30:22 Viewer question: BOJ rate hikes and impact on risk assets

31:44 Wrap up, year-end predictions preview and where to find Chris

Peter Schiff delivers a stark warning: America is headed for the biggest economic crisis of our lifetimes - not a stock market crash, but a dollar collapse leading to an inflationary depression. He explains why gold hitting $4,300 and silver above $66 are screaming signals of an impending currency crisis, responds to Trump's personal attack calling him a "jerk" and "loser" on Truth Social, and breaks down why both Trump and Biden caused the inflation crisis through massive deficit spending and Fed money printing. Schiff reveals why he's positioned his portfolio for a dollar crash (up 60-120% this year in precious metals), predicts a radical left Democrat will win in 2028, and explains the dark reality: Americans will experience a poor country's economy but with higher prices - unless they protect their wealth now with gold, silver, and foreign assets.

This episode is brought to you by VanEck. Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXJulia

Links:

https://x.com/PeterSchiff

Europac.com

http://SchiffGold.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and welcome Peter Schiff

01:19 Big picture macro view: America's bleak outlook

04:00 Gold and silver screaming currency crisis is coming

07:04 Prediction: Radical left Democrat in White House 2028

08:39 Peter's reaction to Trump's Truth Social attack

10:19 Trump's ridiculous claim that prices are coming down

11:37 Biden and Trump both caused inflation crisis

13:40 Trump's "big beautiful bill" making deficits worse

15:00 Republicans in trouble for 2026 midterms

16:28 Trump is not a real conservative or capitalist

22:12 Affordability crisis and government spending problem

23:33 No politically viable way to right the ship

25:00 We need higher interest rates, not lower

27:28 Gold up 65%, silver up 120% this year

28:30 Why "perma bear" label is wrong

30:00 The dollar crash Peter has been predicting

32:22 Investors moving money overseas from US stocks

34:02 How gold skyrocketing pulls rug from under dollar

36:08 Dollar reserve currency status ending

38:22 Inflationary depression: weak economy, high inflation

44:31 How everyday Americans will be impacted

47:09 Early innings for gold and silver

53:41 What Peter wishes he said on Tucker

56:20 Capitalism blamed for socialism's damage

57:59 Wrap up and appreciation

Michael Green, Chief Strategist and Portfolio Manager for Simplify Asset Management, joins Julia La Roche on episode 318 to break down his viral three-part series on America's real poverty line, revealing why families making $100,000-$140,000 are trapped in what he calls the "valley of death" - where government benefits are withdrawn before cash earnings can replace them. He explains how childcare costs, benefit cliffs, and tax code changes since the 1950s have made the American Dream nearly impossible for young families, why economists reacted so negatively to his work, and how the official poverty line ($31,200) is completely disconnected from reality. Green also discusses the implications for markets, predicting a 1929-style crash from passive investing flows, and shares what gives him hope: human potential and the power of free people over slaves.

This episode is brought to you by VanEck. 

Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXJulia

Links:

Follow Mike on X: https://twitter.com/profplum99Read

Mike’s Substack: https://www.yesigiveafig.com/Visit Simplify: https://www.simplify.us/

Timestamps

00:00 Intro and welcome Mike Green

01:00 Genesis of the viral poverty line series and why the American Dream is breaking down

05:25 The Valley of Death and the benefit cliffs

06:21 The working poor

07:50 Childcare

09:10 $100,000 used to mean something different

12:10 The precarity line

13:10 How we got here: tax code changes and the gaslighting about taxes and the 1%

16:30 What's the solution?

18:01 Implications of fixing the problem

21:40 Why economists reacted so viscerally

24:18 Sentiment analysis

26:35 Revealing what academics have been missing

28:34 The affordability crisis vs inflation debate

31:35 We need a different framework for poverty

32:47 Where this is headed if nothing changes

34:45 Political implications

39:09 What Mike plans to do about it

40:35 Markets and passive investing momentum

46:41 Wrap up and where to find Mike Green

Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors and author of The Institutional Risk Analyst blog, joins The Julia La Roche Show for "The Wrap with Chris Whalen." Whalen breaks down the latest FOMC meeting, revealing a divided Fed with no clear consensus on future rate cuts. He predicts a home price correction coming and also warns of a brewing crisis in private equity, where 15-20% of companies are insolvent and relying on payment-in-kind structures. Whalen also discusses JPMorgan's surprise expense guidance this week, the Fed's Reserve Management Purchases (and whether it's QE by another name), and explains why the commercial real estate market remains a major risk. He expects higher bank earnings next year despite hidden dangers in lending to non-depository financial institutions, and shares his skeptical view on stablecoins and AI infrastructure spending.

Links:    

The Institutional Risk Analyst: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/ 

https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/post/theira785

Inflated book (2nd edition): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inflated-r-christopher-whalen/1146303673

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rcwhalen    

Website: https://www.rcwhalen.com/   

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and welcome Chris Whalen

00:49 FOMC meeting recap

04:03 Inflation as the #1 issue for Americans

05:13 Home price correction coming

06:03 Commercial real estate crisis deepening

07:25 Fed's Reserve Management Purchases explained

09:22 Fed managing liquidity into year-end

11:35 JPMorgan's surprise expense guidance

14:33 NDFIs: Lending reminiscent of 1920s practices

15:45 Private equity insolvency crisis? (15-20% insolvent)

16:51 Deflationary risk from forced asset sales

22:45 Private credit hidden risk

23:53 2026 outlook

24:24 Ginnie Mae vs Fannie/Freddie liquidity problem

26:28 Do stablecoins make sense?

27:56 Oracle CDS spiking and AI infrastructure spending

30:27 Viewer question: Fed control over mortgage rates

33:33 Viewer question: Manufacturing renaissance under Trump?

34:57 Viewer question: Are 10-year treasuries a good investment now?

36:16 Wrap up and where to find Chris Whalen

Melody Wright, author of M3 Melody Substack, returns to the show for an in-person episode to discuss her outlook for housing and why we could see a price correction of 38%.

This episode is brought to you by VanEck. 

Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXJulia

Links:

YouTube; https://www.youtube.com/@m3_melody

X: https://x.com/m3_melody

Substack: https://m3melody.substack.com/

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction: Melody Wright joins the show

00:44 - Housing market frozen for three years - lowest sales since 1995

2:12 - Institutions are net selling and preparing for what's coming

3:16 - The middle class squeezed out of housing market

4:11 - Debunking the "structural housing shortage" myth

6:12 - Regional housing story: What Zillow data reveals

8:03 - Who's running for the exits first: Institutions vs Mom & Pop

9:17 - Home prices going negative for first time in 2+ years

10:20 - 38% correction coming - when housing becomes affordable again

11:56 - Why Fed rate cuts won't help housing

14:04 - The China parallel: Over-building and empty inventory

16:48 - Demographics: The silver tsunami and vacant homes

18:15 - Timeline: When foreclosures will materially increase

21:04 - FHA program shutdown and masking delinquencies

23:48 - Why this crisis is worse than 2008 for millennials

24:50 - What Melody changed her mind on about housing

26:04 - The #1 thing people are getting wrong about housing

27:48 - National Association of REALTORS responds to Melody

28:52 - What keeps Melody up at night

30:00 - What a healthy housing market looks like

31:45 - Final advice: Say no to debt slavery and wait

Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and Chief Strategist at QI Research, joins Julia La Roche to break down the FOMC and discuss her open letter manifesto to the committee written on behalf of every hard-working American.

This episode is brought to you by VanEck. 

Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXJulia

Links:    

Danielle's open letter: https://quillintelligence.com/2025/12/10/the-weekly-quill-open-letter-2/

Danielle's Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/dimartinobooth  

Substack: https://dimartinobooth.substack.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielleDiMartinoBoothQI

Fed Up: https://www.amazon.com/Fed-Up-Insiders-Federal-Reserve/dp/0735211655

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro and welcome back Danielle

00:33 Reaction to FOMC

01:36 QE?

02:40 Markets are overreacting

02:59 Danielle's open letter to The Federal Open Market Committee

06:57 Kevin Hassett

08:45 How to preserve Fed independence

09:20 Every Hardworking American Who Wakes Up in the Morning Asking Themselves What Went Wrong

10:42 The Fed's conflicting mandates

12:25 The unprecedented level of dissent

15:04 Powell was passionately against QE back in 2012

17:21 The Fed could exert its independence

18:50 Markets think it's QE, but is it?

20:09 Powell

21:29 Fed policy is eviscerating the middle class

25:10 Labor market dynamics

30:12 Biggest fear - civil war without honest monetary policy

32:45 Call to action

Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors and author of The Institutional Risk Analyst blog, joins The Julia La Roche Show for "The Wrap with Chris Whalen." Whalen breaks down what's ahead for the Federal Reserve and financial markets as we head into 2026. He discusses Kevin Hassett as the likely next Fed Chair, explaining why Fed independence is more myth than reality and how political pressures will influence rate decisions ahead of the midterm elections. Whalen analyzes the upcoming FOMC meeting, commercial real estate risks, and why he's not concerned about an imminent market crisis despite ongoing concerns about the Treasury market and credit conditions. He also tackles why the Fed's 2% inflation target may be outdated and explains the K-shaped economy that has consumers and investors feeling divided about the recovery.

Links:    

The Institutional Risk Analyst: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/ 

https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/post/theira785

Inflated book (2nd edition): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inflated-r-christopher-whalen/1146303673

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rcwhalen    

Website: https://www.rcwhalen.com/   

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and welcome Chris Whalen

01:07 Kevin Hassett as next Fed Chair pick?

03:10 Fed independence and political dynamics

05:00 Midterm elections and rate cut pressure

09:28 FOMC meeting preview, Fed worried about being "late to the party"

11:27 Importance of mortgage rates over fed funds

15:18 State of the economy, no crisis coming

16:56 Bitcoin and crypto market discussion

19:33 Commercial real estate reality check

23:29 Private credit myths and reality

25:00 Viewer question: Bank preferred stocks

26:50 Viewer question: Why the 2% inflation target?

28:14 Inflation vs deflation in asset markets

30:00 Biggest risks entering 2026

30:27 Surprise events and systemic risk

31:21 K-shaped economy and recovery paths

33:00 Wrap up and where to find Chris Whalen