Alex Ossola

The private credit boom on Wall Street is raising some concerns for investors again.

One of BlackRock's private credit funds surprised investors last week when it reported a $140 million loss and marked down the value of its holdings by 19 percent.

The decline just highlights how hard it is to know how much these investments are worth, even as Wall Street and the Trump administration are pushing to make products like these even more widely available to Main Street investors.

I'm joined now by Matt Wertz, who covers credit for The Journal.

Matt, why are these types of investments so hard to value?

What does this mean for ordinary investors?

Matt, one second.

Let me just tell listeners BDCs are business development companies that typically make high interest loans to companies.

And this BlackRock fund we're talking about is an example of one.

That was WSJ reporter Matt Wertz.

Thank you, Matt.

A spokesman for BlackRock declined to comment.

As we mentioned on this morning's show, President Trump has named his pick to lead the Federal Reserve.

It's 55-year-old Kevin Warsh.

Wall Street isn't sure what to make of Warsh yet.

Many are optimistic that Warsh will preserve the Federal Reserve's independence, even as they're also concerned he might be far from the easy-money kind of Fed chair that President Trump wants.

The conflicting views were reflected today by falling stocks, a rallying dollar, and the worst day for gold and silver in more than four decades.

Gold fell 11 percent and silver dropped 31 percent.

Warsh still has to be confirmed by the Senate, and the government's criminal investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell might complicate that.

Republican Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina said today that, though he considers Warsh a qualified nominee, he would oppose Warsh's confirmation until the Powell probe is resolved.