Bank CEOs Say $134 Billion Trading Record Is Just the Start

Jan 15, 2026

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Emily Green

Guest

Mandeep Singh

Guest

Andrejka Bernatova

Andrejka Bernatova, CEO of Dynamix, dives into the investment landscape of Venezuela, highlighting the potential for smaller firms amid risks of nationalizations. Mandeep Singh, the tech research head at Bloomberg Intelligence, analyzes TSMC’s hefty capex aimed at catering to AI demands and the impact of recent semiconductor trends. Emily Green, from Ellevest, shares insights on financial planning and the evolving market landscape, focusing on shifts in AI stock concentration and anticipated geopolitical risks shaping investments for 2026.

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INSIGHT

Wall Street Trading Momentum

Wall Street trading reached a record $134 billion and executives expect momentum to continue into 2026.
Prediction markets and client repositioning amid political volatility are seen as new tools and drivers for trading activity.

INSIGHT

Prediction Markets Enter Finance

Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi are moving from fringe to mainstream interest among financial firms.
Executives see potential for these markets to become regulated derivatives and institutional hedging tools over time.

INSIGHT

BlackRock's Broad Inflow Strength

BlackRock reported $342 billion of client inflows and hit $14 trillion AUM, showing broad strength across products.
Acquisitions and Aladdin/Preqin tech integrations are boosting private markets and fee growth.

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Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer Ted Pick started summing up his outlook after Wall Street’s banner year for trading with four words: “The setup is ideal.”

After Wall Street’s five giant banks reported a record $134 billion of trading revenue from last year and an upswing in dealmaking, Pick and peers agreed it’s poised to continue — albeit with caveats.

“As a student of these businesses for decades, I would bet you that 2021 is not the ceiling,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon said, referring to the last record year for lenders’ trading businesses. “The world is set up at the moment to be incredibly constructive in 2026 for M&A and capital markets activity, and I think the likely scenario is it is a very, very good year.”

President Donald Trump’s turbulent policy changes and trade talks have kept investors on edge — but for bank traders that has kept paying off as clients rush to reposition their portfolios. At the same time, his administration’s deregulatory efforts and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts are reviving a moribund environment for mergers and acquisitions — quickly filling dealmakers’ pipelines.

As Morgan Stanley and Goldman posted quarterly results Thursday after reports from their largest rivals earlier in the week, the market-centric firms added to predictions for another bumper year for Wall Street operations. That contrasted with other corners of banking, such as credit-card units that have come under threat as Trump demands a cap on interest rates. Industry executives have been fielding questions about how they may respond to that, even as they themselves await information from the White House.

Today's show features:

Bloomberg News Chief Wall Street Correspondent Sri Natarajan breaks down earnings from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and Cathy Seifert, Vice President of CFRA Research, on BlackRock’s quarterly earnings and outlook
Andrejka Bernatova, Founder and CEO of Dynamix, on why she believes smaller energy companies have a chance to benefit from US action in Venezuela
Bloomberg Intelligence Global Head of Technology Research Mandeep Singh on earnings from TSMC and the health of the semiconductor sector
Emily Green, Head of Private Wealth Management at Ellevest, on financial planning and portfolio management strategies

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