Wall Street Jolted By Trump-Fed Fight | Bloomberg Businessweek Daily 1/12/2026

Watch on YouTube ↗ | January 12, 2026 at 21:50 | 51:50 | Bloomberg Markets

Speakers

Michael Contopoulos — Director of Fixed Income, Richard Bernstein Advisors

Albert Bourla — CEO, Pfizer

Catherine Owen Adams — CEO, Acadia Pharmaceuticals

Stephen Scherr — Co-President, Pretium

Enda Curran — Senior Economics Reporter, Bloomberg News

Charlie Pellett — Anchor/Reporter, Bloomberg

Emily Graffeo — Anchor, Bloomberg

Summary

The episode covers market reaction to the DOJ subpoena of the Federal Reserve and concerns about central-bank independence, with stocks near records and gold/silver at highs. Michael Contopoulos of Richard Bernstein Advisors discusses rotation away from U.S. mega-cap/liquidity-driven assets, international developed markets, agency mortgages, and avoiding corporate credit. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla outlines Pfizer's post-COVID pipeline and obesity outlook, Acadia CEO Catherine Owen Adams discusses neuroscience/rare disease, and Pretium's Stephen Scherr responds to Trump's proposal to ban institutional single-family homebuying.

DOJ subpoena of the Fed and Trump pressure dominated the news, but stocks were mostly higher and gold/silver hit records.
Michael Contopoulos favored international developed equities, especially Europe and Japan, and U.S. equities outside the Magnificent 7.
Contopoulos said corporate credit is richly valued and he prefers short-dated Treasuries over credit risk.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla highlighted oncology, obesity/GLP-1, Lyme disease vaccine and a return to growth after patent expirations.
Acadia CEO Catherine Owen Adams made the case for neuroscience and rare disease investing and warned of longer-term research-funding risks for smaller biotechs.
Pretium Co-President Stephen Scherr opposed an outright ban on institutional single-family homebuying and argued private capital is needed to improve housing supply.
Bank and card stocks fell after Trump proposed a 10% rate cap, while Paramount Skydance moved to challenge Netflix's Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

Ideas

Michael Contopoulos Director of Fixed Income, Richard Bernstein Advisors 15:49

Avoid richly valued corporate credit.

Corporate credit is incredibly richly valued, among the richest he has seen in his career, with very little upside for taking corporate credit risk and uncertainty around principal repayment. He can own short-dated Treasuries for a fraction of the risk with similar or better upside, so his firm is not buying credit and is comfortable holding zero while waiting for better entry points.

Michael Contopoulos Director of Fixed Income, Richard Bernstein Advisors 16:19

Prefer short-dated Treasuries over corporate credit.

Instead of corporate credit, short-dated Treasuries and shorter-term debt offer similar, if not better, upside with a fraction of the risk, making them more attractive while credit valuations are stretched.

Michael Contopoulos Director of Fixed Income, Richard Bernstein Advisors 16:54

Favor U.S. ex-Mag7; short Mag7, crypto.

Much of the liquidity-driven bubble is starting to deflate: since October 31, meme stocks, crypto and the Magnificent 7 have meaningfully underperformed, and he expects that underperformance to continue in 2026. Within the U.S., almost everything other than the Magnificent 7 offers a great opportunity as capital rotates away from excess and concentrated mega-cap/liquidity-driven bubbles.

Michael Contopoulos Director of Fixed Income, Richard Bernstein Advisors 16:54

Favor U.S. ex-Mag7; short Mag7, crypto.

Much of the liquidity-driven bubble is starting to deflate: since October 31, meme stocks, crypto and the Magnificent 7 have meaningfully underperformed, and he expects that underperformance to continue in 2026. Within the U.S., almost everything other than the Magnificent 7 offers a great opportunity as capital rotates away from excess and concentrated mega-cap/liquidity-driven bubbles.

Michael Contopoulos Director of Fixed Income, Richard Bernstein Advisors 17:15

Agency mortgages offer a great opportunity.

He named agency mortgages as one of the plentiful opportunities outside the Magnificent 7 as liquidity-driven bubbles deflate and investors rotate away from U.S. excess.

Michael Contopoulos Director of Fixed Income, Richard Bernstein Advisors 17:17

Favor Europe, Japan over U.S. equities.

U.S. exceptionalism is in transition rather than necessarily ending, and he favors a rotation away from U.S. excess/liquidity-driven leadership toward the rest of the world. International developed markets, especially Europe and Japan, offer much more reasonable valuations with strong earnings growth and strong dividends, giving a better total-return picture with less volatility than the U.S.

Albert Bourla CEO, Pfizer 21:53

Pfizer sees growth after patent cliff.

Pfizer is moving beyond COVID and upcoming patent expirations: oncology is performing extremely well with double-digit growth, significant acquisitions are adding to the pipeline, and after the period without top-line growth he expects a return to growth. The company is reinvesting cost savings into R&D, with obesity/GLP-1 (once-monthly, combination, superior-results potential) and a Lyme disease vaccine among new drivers; he remains optimistic despite policy uncertainty.

Catherine Owen Adams CEO, Acadia Pharmaceuticals 34:56

Neuroscience, rare disease offer investable unmet need.

Neuroscience and rare disease are attractive because of huge unmet medical need: there are many large disease areas such as Alzheimer's and Lewy body dementia, and about 95% of rare diseases have no approved therapies, creating a strong opportunity for innovation.

Catherine Owen Adams CEO, Acadia Pharmaceuticals 35:29

Acadia positioned well in neuroscience/rare disease.

Acadia is focused on neurological disease and rare disease, where it can address patient communities with few options. She says the company remains committed to this area despite policy changes, is not disrupted by government research funding cuts, and engages with policymakers; it also has strong patient-support programs and received approval for a new formulation in December.

Catherine Owen Adams CEO, Acadia Pharmaceuticals 36:31

Smaller biotechs face long-term funding risk.

Government cuts to U.S. university research funding are not disrupting Acadia today, but she worries about the longer-term knock-on effect, especially for smaller biotechs that rely on academia for initial innovation.

Stephen Scherr Co-President, Pretium 42:18

Private capital needed in single-family rentals.

The Trump administration's proposal to ban institutional single-family home buying surprised the industry, but he does not see an outright ban as the logical end state and says there is no intention to compel sales. Private capital is needed to address a 3-4 million home shortage, especially on the rental side; if private capital were sidelined, affordability would worsen rather than improve, so institutional single-family rental operators can be part of the solution.

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This Bloomberg Markets video, published January 12, 2026, features Michael Contopoulos, Albert Bourla, Catherine Owen Adams, Stephen Scherr discussing LQD, SHY, XMAG, MAGS, MBB, International developed equities, VGK, EWJ, PFE, Neuroscience and rare disease therapeutics, ACAD, Smaller biotech companies, Institutional single-family rentals. 11 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Michael Contopoulos, Albert Bourla, Catherine Owen Adams, Stephen Scherr · Tickers: LQD, SHY, XMAG, MAGS, MBB, International developed equities, VGK, EWJ, PFE, Neuroscience and rare disease therapeutics, ACAD, Smaller biotech companies, Institutional single-family rentals