WSJ's Take On the Week WSJ’s Take On the Year: Market Trends to Watch in 2026
43 snips
Jan 4, 2026 
Aaron Back, an Editor at WSJ's Heard on the Street known for his market insights, and David Wainer, a columnist who focuses on the food, health care, and consumer sectors, discuss the volatile landscape of 2025 and predictions for 2026. They explore the AI-driven surge in hard-drive and chip makers, like Seagate and Micron. The duo also dives into Robinhood's market debut and the fierce Netflix-Paramount bidding war while outlining big losers like Fiserv and struggling healthcare stocks amid changing policies.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
AI Spurs Massive Storage Demand
- AI demand drove a surge in storage and hard-drive shipments, lifting Seagate and Western Digital in 2025.
- Western Digital reported exabytes shipped up 32% year-over-year, signalling heavy data-center demand.
Retail Trading Recharged Markets
- Robinhood's user-driven trading boom and meme-stock resurgence helped power a >200% stock surge and an S&P 500 debut in 2025.
- Retail gamification of finance attracted younger investors and amplified market activity.
Media M&A Drives Market Movers
- The Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war between Netflix and Paramount lifted the entertainment sector and shaped market winners.
- Aaron Back and David Wainer expected Paramount to prevail due to competitive and antitrust factors.