Steve Levine, author of The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World, joins us in studio to discuss the current status of batteries and the impact they could have on the energy market over the next 10-20 years.

MuleSoft founder Ross Mason talks security, wearables, and electronic health records and lays out an optimistic prediction about the future of healthcare.

We welcome special guest Brian Dodge from the Retail Industry Leaders Association to share with us his view of some of the trends, challenges, and innovative opportunities that retail management teams are focused on in 2016 and beyond.

Small bank investing requires a little extra work, but the benefits can pay off mightily.

Host Gaby Lapera and special guest Tim Hanson think that small banks are not only an interesting niche in the investing markets, but one very much worth your time. What makes these banks “small”? Why should an investor even bother with the effort of researching and investing in them? What are the advantageous, disadvantages, and common mistakes investors make when wading into these waters? What are the key checkboxes you must check off before clicking “buy”? The answers to these questions – and more – are right here in today’s financials edition of the Motley Fool’s Industry Focus podcast.

Listen in to hear about the two new products Apple has announced, one nifty way the company is returning value to shareholders, and how Apple is performing in the detachables space.

Then, on the Tesla side of things: what we know about Tesla’s Model 3, how it’ll make electric cars far more accessible to the public than they have been, and what might come of a significantly increased number of EVs on the road.

The Motley Fool’s Tayor Muckerman and Sean O’Reilly weigh in on recent production moves by oil giant Chevron and analyze the repercussions of a new partnership between SolarCity and Whole Foods.

The Motley Fool's Kristine Harjes and Todd Campbell discuss what trial failure, commercial failure, and patent expiration at Celldex, MannKind, and PDL BioPharma, respectively, teaches investors about managing risk in the industry.

Extending a wave of industry consolidation, the No. 2 and 4 theater operators in the U.S. will combine to create the largest theater chain in the country. The combined entity will have over 8,000 screens and 600 locations in 45 states. And in other news, stellar revenue growth may soon be a source of nostalgia for Shake Shack investors.

Around the world, savers are grappling with negative interest rates. Here’s why negative interest rates are unlikely to hit American shores.

Years after the Great Financial Crisis, interest rates are heading even lower. From Japan to Germany, interest rates are so low that they’re negative -- that’s right, negative! Some investors are actually choosing to lose money by investing in government bonds.

But this week’s episode of Industry Focus: Financials has it all. Join us as The Motley Fool’s Gaby Lapera and Jordan Wathen discuss accounting ratios, negative interest rate policy, and why it’s so darn hard to make accurate predictions about the future.

Next week Fools will be on the ground in Austin for SXSW -- we run through three speakers we're excited to see and why.