David Rosenberg: The Economy Is More Fragile Than You Think

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
So good, so good, so good.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:01)
New fall arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Get ready to save big with up to 60% off brands like Vince, Steve Madden, Kate Spade New York and Boss. Stock up on the latest trends like animal print, lace and suede. Join the Nordy Club for free to unlock exclusive discounts, shop clearance and new arrivals before anyone else and so much more. Plus, you can buy online and then pick up your order at your favorite rack store. It's fast and free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:31)
This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability varies 18 plus.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:56)
This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When you're advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales. Using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at accenture.com/spotify.

**David Rosenberg** (1:26)
I'm actually leading to the view that their next move will be to cut rates, not to raise rates. I think that the economy is more fragile than people think. AI is booming, it's one part of the economy. What happens if the stock market stops going up? What happens if the savings rate stops going down?

**Maggie Lake** (1:47)
Hello and welcome to Wealthion, I'm Maggie Lake. Joining me today to discuss the outlook for markets is David Rosenberg, founder and president of Rosenberg Research. Hi, David, it's great to have you back on.

**David Rosenberg** (1:57)
Thanks, Maggie. It's always great to be on with you.

**Maggie Lake** (2:01)
I know many of our viewers follow you and already know this, but for those who are new, you have a reputation as being a bit of a bear. I know sometimes you punch back on that, but it seems like you're leaning into it now because you have a book coming out, I understand, Bear in the Bull Ring.

**David Rosenberg** (2:19)
Bear in the Bull Ring, it's really a survival kit on Wall Street. But it's basically a book about my 40 years of working in the financial industry as a pontificator and an economic and financial advisor, and just a collection of all the data points along the way, really the collective experience of all that time, and how it's shaped my views and convictions to this day, how it's influenced not just my philosophy on how I interpret the economic data and how to invest around it, but also how to live life. And you're right, it's called Bear in the Bull Ring because of my reputation.
But, you know, it's interesting, you know, that I got hired by Gloskin Chef, which in Canada was a household name, and it was a long only equity shop. And Ira Gloskin was like Canada's, you know, Warren Buffett. He was an iconic long only equity fund manager who never in his life would have hired a perma bear to sit down with the portfolio managers. But, you know, they followed my research for a long time. People that really know me, my 2,300 clients, they know that it's just a label.
But I don't shy away from it. I might push back when it gets extreme, but, you know, you can be a perma bull. There's so many of those. You can be a perma bear. Of course, there's no perma anything in our business. You know that, because perma is short for permanent. And this is an industry we have of fast change. So there's no perma anything, but, you know, a label is a label. And I've almost in some sense embraced this perma bear reputation, because the worst thing you want to be in my business is ignored. You know, better to be labeled a perma bear than irrelevant. So, you know, that's fine with me. I'm the first perma bear of all time who's never shorted a stock in his life.

**Maggie Lake** (4:41)
Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Listen, we've talked many times, and it's true. I mean, that's a simple label. But I think what's important, and I think this resonates with a lot of people in our community, is that we kind of understand that there's a whole industry built around just constantly being bullish equities. Like just, you know, that sort of passively and constantly being bullish equities. And that doesn't seem to fit anymore. And so we always love catching up with somebody who's willing to push back against consensus. And, you know, talk about risks that, you know, may be out there that we should dig into and look into.