Watchdog on Wall Street with Chris Markowski

The Economy Looks Strong—Until You Read the Fine Print

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  The headline numbers look great: unemployment down, GDP up, trade deficit shrinking. But once you dig past the surface, a very different story emerges. In this deep dive, Chris breaks down the latest labor, trade, and GDP data—and explains why the official narrative doesn’t line up with economic reality.Job growth is weak and narrowly concentrated, hiring is sluggish, and layoffs are quietly spreading through small and mid-sized businesses. The “improving” trade deficit? Strip out massive gold shipments and it actually worsens. GDP growth? Inflated by savings drawdowns, falling imports, and gold exports—not rising incomes or real consumer strength.This is why we don't play the TV guessing-game with economic numbers anymore. You have to look inside the data, not just at the headlines. The real economy isn’t what the wizards of smart want you to believe—and you’re better off being your own economist.

How to Actually Bring Mortgage Rates Down—Without Bullying the Fed

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  Everyone wants lower mortgage rates—but strong-arming the Federal Reserve or squeezing banks isn’t the answer. In this episode, Chris lays out practical, free-market solutions that could actually bring mortgage rates down without political pressure or economic distortions.Drawing on how commercial loans and bond markets really work, Chris explains why features like prepayment risk drive mortgage rates higher in the U.S. Unlike many business loans or callable bonds, American mortgages allow borrowers to prepay at any time—forcing lenders to charge more to compensate for that risk.So what’s the fix? Options like non-prepayable mortgages with penalties, Fannie and Freddie offering alternative loan structures, and even portable or assumable mortgages that allow buyers to take over existing low-rate loans. These changes could shave meaningful basis points off rates while improving market efficiency.Instead of grandstanding and pressure campaigns, there are intelligent, market-based reforms sitting right in front of us. If policymakers are serious about affordability, this is where the conversation should start.

Is Jay Powell Headed for a Perp Walk? The Fed Under Political Fire

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  Are prosecutors really coming after the Federal Reserve Chair—or is this something else entirely? Reports that the Justice Department is investigating Jerome Powell over testimony related to the Fed’s building renovation have ignited speculation, outrage, and a very real debate about central bank independence.In this episode, Chris breaks down what’s actually happening, why grand jury subpoenas matter, and how this investigation fits into a broader campaign of political pressure on the Fed. With interest rates at the center of a heated midterm-year fight, Powell says the probe is a pretext designed to intimidate the central bank into lowering rates—despite inflation realities saying otherwise.Chris also unpacks the misconceptions about interest rates, why mortgage rates don’t move the way people think they do, and why using the legal system as a political weapon sets a dangerous precedent. If this is about accountability, where are the prosecutions everyone was promised elsewhere? And if it’s about pressure, what does that mean for the future of independent monetary policy?This isn’t just about Jay Powell—it’s about whether evidence-based policy survives political intimidation.

Make Loan Sharks Great Again? Why a 10% Credit Card Cap Backfires

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  At first glance, a 10% cap on credit card interest rates sounds like a win for consumers. Who wouldn’t want relief from 20–30% APRs? But dig one layer deeper, and this proposal turns from populist applause line into an economic mess that would hurt the very people it claims to help.In this episode, Chris explains how the credit card industry actually works—who really charges interest, where swipe fees go, and why Visa, Mastercard, and AmEx aren’t the villains they’re made out to be. Spoiler: banks take the risk, banks charge the interest, and credit cards are largely unsecured, non-recourse loans.Cap rates at 10%, and banks won’t suddenly become generous—they’ll pull credit, cancel cards, jack up fees, or require cash collateral. Young workers, lower-credit borrowers, and anyone new to the system get squeezed out first. That’s how credit rationing works, every time.Chris breaks down why this idea is straight out of the price-control playbook, why it’s midterm political theater, and why it can’t be enforced without blowing up access to credit across the country.Misusing credit cards is a real problem—but government-mandated rate caps won’t fix it. They’ll just make credit scarcer, more expensive in other ways, and far less accessible.

The Clampetts & J.R. Ewing Go to Washington: Big Oil Meets Venezuelan Reality

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  Picture it: Tommy Norris, the Clampetts, and J.R. Ewing all strolling into Washington as Big Oil’s finest gather with the president to talk Venezuela. As entertaining as that image is, the reality was far less glamorous—and far more troubling.In this episode, Chris breaks down the tense, lukewarm reception oil executives gave the president’s push to invest billions in Venezuelan oil. Promises of “security guarantees” raise a serious question: should U.S. taxpayers—and even U.S. troops—be on the hook to protect corporate oil investments in one of the most unstable countries on earth?With assets previously seized, billions written off, sanctions still looming, and the State Department warning Americans to get out of Venezuela immediately, Big Oil isn’t buying the pitch. Exxon flatly called Venezuela “uninvestable,” and behind closed doors, executives were likely relieved when the White House walked that back.Chris also unpacks the contradictions, the fact-free tangents, and the dangerous idea that past losses should simply be forgotten in the hope of future profits—all while ignoring the real technical, legal, and geopolitical barriers to Venezuelan oil production.Let companies risk their own money if they want. But taxpayers and the military? Absolutely not.