Wharton’s Jeremy Siegel: There are a lot of non-tech stocks that aren't doing badly

Market and Investing Takeaways

• Nasdaq: Down 9% from its all-time high, reached less than a month earlier. Siegel described this as correction territory.
• S&P 500: Down about 2% in the broader-market move discussed. Siegel also said it remained within roughly 3% of its record high.
• Market breadth: Siegel noted that 60% of S&P 500 companies were at least 20% below their highs, despite the index’s proximity to a record.
• Value and balanced indexes: He said the Russell Value and S&P Value indexes were at historic highs. The S&P Balanced Index was reportedly up about 1% that day and within 1% of its high.
• Technology: The S&P technology sector had entered correction territory, down about 10–11%. Siegel cited growth of roughly 17% per year for the technology sector versus 11–12% for the S&P, which he said was above the market’s historical average. The subtitle does not clarify the measurement period for those growth figures.
• Bonds: Siegel said bonds had performed very well over the period and urged investors not to focus solely on technology and AI stocks.
• Economic outlook: Despite market declines and uncertainty around AI, Siegel said he did not view the situation as a sign of an impending major recession.

Investing Framework and Cautions

• Look beyond headline indexes: Consider market breadth and what is happening among individual stocks, not just an index’s distance from its high.
• Diversify: Siegel stressed holding non-AI stocks and bonds, given unusually high uncertainty about AI’s potential upside and downside.
• Keep perspective on drawdowns: He characterized the Nasdaq’s 9% decline as a correction, while acknowledging that markets could fall further.
• Watch leverage: Investors who are over-leveraged may be especially vulnerable to declines.

Anthropic Financing

Siegel suggested that Anthropic could issue $30 billion in stock, which he said would equal about 2% of its market value, rather than borrow through bonds. His reasoning was that equity investors participate in potential growth, while bondholders bear company risk without the same upside. Issuing equity could also avoid a non-investment-grade bond rating.

Assets and Indexes Mentioned

Anthropic; Nasdaq; S&P 500; Russell Value; S&P Value; S&P Balanced Index; S&P technology sector; bonds.

Presenters and Sources

• Jeremy Siegel — Wharton School professor and chief economist at WisdomTree.
• The CNBC Closing Bell interviewer or other host is not identified in the supplied subtitles.