Welcome to WSJ’s Take On the Week. Co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead.

This week, Telis and Gunjan debrief on BlackRock’s $12 billion acquisition of private credit manager HPS. Then they tackle the “i word” – inflation – and the upcoming consumer-price index report. They also chat about bitcoin cresting over $100,000 in the wake of an expected crypto-friendly Washington under a Trump presidency. 

Later on in the show, Telis gets into what’s driving people to restaurants at projected record levels, even though the cost of food and dining out have been high. He’s joined by Aman Narang, CEO and co-founder of Toast, a technology company that sells software and hardware to restaurants for digital payments, online apps, takeout and delivery, kitchen management and more. They talk about how the restaurant industry has fared since the pandemic and how technology like Toast’s has brought the sector further into the 21st century. 

Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the hosts at telis.demos@wsj.com and gunjan.banerji@wsj.com. 

Further Reading

For more coverage of the markets and your investments, head to WSJ.com, WSJ’s Heard On The Street Column, and WSJ’s Live Markets blog.