The Meb Faber Show - Better Investing BlackRock’s Rick Rieder - Rethinking Risk Into 2026 | #609
72 snips
Dec 12, 2025 
In this discussion with Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer at BlackRock, listeners gain insights into the current market dynamics and the evolving economic landscape. Rieder shares his expectations for the Fed’s interest rates, drawing a parallel between investing and gambling. He emphasizes the significance of free cash flow in big tech, warns about the future of small caps, and highlights key sectors to watch. Rieder also draws lessons from tennis to illustrate the importance of timing and strategy in investment decisions.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Small Caps In The Shadow Of Tech
- Small caps struggle against digital incumbents and data-driven competition, making sustained outperformance unlikely.
- Rieder expects M&A and AI democratization to rescue select small companies, but broad small-cap exposure remains challenging.
Productivity Cuts Jobs, Not Output
- The U.S. economy is healthy on aggregate, but job creation is weakening as productivity reduces lower-skilled roles.
- Rieder views this as a social challenge that lower interest rates could partially mitigate by boosting employment and housing.
Lower Rates To Reignite Housing
- Lower mortgage rates spur housing velocity, labor mobility, and job creation in construction and related sectors.
- Rieder advises that getting mortgage rates into the mid-to-high 5% range would materially help housing and the broader economy.
