Stock Slide Deepens in Run-Up to Nvidia and Jobs

Nov 17, 2025

R.C. “Chris” Whalen, a banking and credit market expert, discusses the risks of private credit and the hype surrounding AI valuations, cautioning against over-investment. Aaron Jagdfeld, CEO of Generac, shares insights on the company's earnings miss, driven by weak residential demand due to mild weather, while highlighting growth in commercial markets. The two also delve into the challenges facing the U.S. power grid and the importance of backup generators amid increasing outages.

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INSIGHT

Market Valuations Are Stretched

Jeff Gundlach and others warn valuations across equities and private credit look dangerously high.
Excess money chasing limited opportunities has inflated asset prices and risk profiles.

INSIGHT

Hidden Losses In Private Credit

Chris Whalen says private credit losses are mounting and largely hidden from retail investors.
He expects disclosures and restructurings to increase as private losses surface publicly.

INSIGHT

AI Hype Versus True Intelligence

Whalen argues current AI hype is mostly high-powered search and summarization, not true machine intelligence.
He warns much AI spend may not produce revenue proportional to the investment.

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Wall Street traders gearing up for Nvidia Corp.’s earnings and the jobs report shunned riskier assets as both events will be key in shaping the global financial outlook throughout the rest of 2025.
Just days ahead of tests of the two main pillars of the bull market — prospects for artificial intelligence and Federal Reserve rate cuts — equities fell alongside crypto. The S&P 500 lost over 1% — breaching a technical level seen by many as a gateway to a deeper pullback. The gauge is set to snap 138 sessions during which it held above its 50-day moving average — its second-longest stretch this century.

Nvidia’s report Wednesday will come out amid investor uneasiness about stratospheric AI valuations even though the chipmaker is widely expected to deliver another earnings beat. Options traders are pricing in a 6.5% swing in either direction for the stock, which would be the highest implied move in a year.

Then there’s the September jobs report, which will be released Thursday after a delay due to the US shutdown. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said he sees risks to the labor market as skewed to the downside, but warned policymakers need to proceed slowly.

Scrutiny of Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. results will also be heightened as investors seek clues on consumer appetite and the broader economy. More than 400 shares in the S&P 500 fell, with the gauge hovering near 6,650. Nvidia slipped as Peter Thiel’s hedge fund Thiel Macro LLC sold off its entire stake in the chipmaker last quarter. Alphabet Inc. climbed as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. built a $4.9 billion stake in the third quarter.

Today's show features:

R.C. “Chris” Whalen, Chairman, of Whalen Global Advisors, on the US economic and monetary policy outlook
Aaron Jagdfeld, Chairman, President and CEO of Generac, on the company's most recent earnings and the health of the American power grid
Laura Chambers, Chief Executive Officer of Mozilla Corporation on the growing presence of AI in our day-to-day web browsing experience and Internet and data privacy challenges
Sevasti Balafas, Founder and CEO at GoalVest Advisory on investing strategies amid macro uncertainty

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