Jeff Macke

Jeff Macke, host of “Breakout” on Yahoo Finance, talks with the Opportunist’s Managing Editor Leslie Stone about how he got into financial journalism, what it was like to cover the financial crisis and what he believes will be the biggest financial news of 2014.

After successfully running Macke Asset Management in San Francisco for seven years, Jeff Macke found himself semi-retired at age 35—and growing bored. “Retirement is a horrible goal,” he says. “I needed a challenge within finance that didn’t revolve around making rich people richer. The wealthy have plenty of financial advisers looking out for their best interests but there aren’t that many people really trying to defend Main Street investors from the predators.”

He had been writing for TheStreet.com, MarketWatch and The Motley Fool while still at the hedge fund, and quickly became sought after for his knowledge of the markets. “Once I started doing CNBC I was hooked on doing television and video,” he says. “At the time financial television in general wasn’t full of particularly insightful commentary from people who had really been in the pits making money—Jim Cramer was one of the few guys who actually traded his own stuff—but I was intrigued by the marketing opportunity and the chance to give consumers something beyond buy, sell or hold advice.”

Macke was invited to join CNBC in 2006, and he became a pioneer member of “Fast Money” together with host Dylan Ratigan, Tim Strazzini, Guy Adami and Eric Bolling. Some credit him as the “voice of reason” during the defining moments of the financial crisis, due to his thought-provoking commentary and wisdom.

In 2011, Macke left “Fast Money” and teamed up with fellow CNBC alum Matt Nesto to host “Breakout,” an interactive investing show that features fresh segments throughout the trading day via the Yahoo website. He also writes a daily blog for Yahoo Finance. “I have been doing media and investing on the side for a while now and it’s a nice mix,” Macke adds. “The whole way the media reaches the masses is changing and places like Yahoo have a chance to form the new landscape.”

Macke’s book, "Clash of the Financial Pundits: How the Media Influences Your Investment Decisions for Better or Worse" was released by McGraw-Hill in May 2014.