Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

Larry Adam, chief investment officer at Raymond James, says that summers tend to be more volatile and while the market has been up seven of the last eight summers, those gains have had to overcome significant drawdowns, and he thinks that pattern will repeat with an "overbought" market now. Adam still expects two rate cuts, which should avert a recession, although the economy will likely struggle and will be setting up a rougher year in 2025. Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at VettaFi, discusses the benefits and flaws of applying rules-based investing to closed-end funds, noting that changes in the industry have forced changes on a rules-based index of the closed-end fund space that was created by VettaFi, and how that is impacting the holdings and asset allocation for investors choosing to use fund-of-funds rather than to build their own portfolio of individual closed-end issues. Rachel Perez discusses a study done for Preply.com which showed that financial management is one of the three

Howard Yaruss, professor at New York University and author of "Understandable Economics,” says the Federal Reserve should "consider a small rate cut, as soon as possible," in part because the central bank has done a good job — as measured by certain inflation measures — in at least coming close to its target levels, but also because other central bankers around the globe have started to cut, and there could be some issues arising if U.S. monetary policy is out of sync with the rest of the world. Yaruss sees the economy mostly avoiding significant recession and downturn until at least 2025. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, goes out the risk scale by picking a fund that targets junkier junk bonds as his "ETF of the Week," Cassandra Happe talks about the latest survey from WalletHub which showed that commuters and long drivers are more upset with inflation than consumers with large families and bigger grocery bills, who are more focused on rising food prices, plus Rob Spivey, director of research at

Dedicated value investor John Buckingham, editor of The Prudent Speculator and principal portfolio manager at Kovitz Investment Group, says that the long run of the Magnificent Seven has not made it impossible for value investors to hold some of them, noting that while the very hottest don't meet the definition of value, other tech giants like Alphabet and Meta Platforms are trading at levels that shouldn't scare the bargain hunters away. He discusses his buying and trimming strategy in the Market Call. Ebony Reed and Louise Story, co-authors of "Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap" discuss how Americans view wealth — and often confuse it for income — and how that it will take well over a century, barring legislative progress, to make any significant progress that levels the wealth field for all Americans. Plus, Rob Williams, managing director of financial planning at Charles Schwab discusses the firm's eighth annual Modern Wealth Survey, which showed that More than 60%

When Chuck turned 62 last week, he became eligible to claim Social Security benefits, and while he always expected to wait as long as possible before collecting, his own health history, his recent marriage and the passing of some friends of similar ages prompted him to revisit the entire Social Security claiming decision, because deciding when to claim benefits — and how much to let them grow or how to handle them if you take them early — may be the single most important financial decision most Americans ever make, with their financial well-being for the rest of their lives at stake. Nathaniel Popper, author of "The Trolls of Wall Street: How the Outcasts and Insurgents Are Hacking The Markets," discusses his new book and how the traders of meme stocks and the denizens of message boards have gotten better and smarter and have been learning from their mistakes in ways that older generations never really did, and how investing is a different game to the many young people who are getting into it earlier than eve

Ron Sanchez, chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust Company International, says that as the market settles into long-term grown and moderating inflation, it's a good environment for financial markets to broaden out, where he expects more normal relationships between domestic and international stocks and large-company and small-cap stocks. "The market is never about seven stocks or 10 stocks," Sanchez says, which is "a healthy reminder as we look ahead to make sure your portfolio is diversified ... and not to get too narrow." Speaking of diversification, in the Market Call, Kevin Rendino, chief executive officer at 180 Degree Capital talks about investing in micro-cap and small-cap stocks through the lens of an activist investor. And speaking of activist investors, The NAVigator segment features Rob Shaker, portfolio manager at Shaker Financial Services — who follows what he calls a "discount-capture" investment style in closed-end funds — discussing the moves that fund companies have made to enhance yiel

Tom McIntyre, president of McIntyre, Freedman & Flynn, says that "this obsession with Fed policy is misplaced," noting that government spending has helped prop up the economy and hidden weakness in the economy. He's concerned about "overall slippage" in the economy; as an investor who factors the news into his investment choices, McIntyre is staying away from retailers and most financial names, but is gravitating toward utilities and energy producers, as well as companies that are part of the artificial intelligence space without necessarily being the big players. Speaking of the Fed, JoAnne Bianco, investment strategist at BondBloxx, says that she sees real resilience in the U.S. economy, which is why it has rolled along while market expectations moved from multiple rate cuts this year to where it now expects just a single rate reduction. In this environment -- where Bianco is not expecting a significant uptick in defaults caused by high rates -- she likes credit the most among fixed-income opportunities

Natalie Trevithick, head of investment grade corporate bonds at Payden & Rygel, says that companies prepared for the high-interest rate environment in advance, in ways that have allowed the bond market to avoid the rise in defaults that typically hits during rate hikes, but that also contributed to stronger economic growth, which has allowed inflation to be sticky without a lot of pain to the economy. It's part of why the inverted yield curve hasn't indicated a recession yet, and Trevithick thinks the Fed should be able to pull off a soft landing for the economy if it starts cutting late this year or potentially in 2025. Cassandra Happe discusses WalletHub's just-released 2024 Social Media Shopping Survey, which found that most consumers say social media is contributing to their bad spending habits and mistakes. JoAnne Feeney, partner and portfolio manager at Advisors Capital Management, brings her top-down approach to the Market Call.

Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X ETFs, says that he has no problem with higher-than-planned inflation levels so long as nominal economic growth is there. "Investors don't really profit off of Federal Reserve changes," he says, "they profit off of growth in the economy, and that's what we should be focused on." Gene Peroni, founder of Peroni Portfolio Advisors, says that "The market is sensing something quite significantly positive on the horizon, based on its trends." He expects economic strength and rising earnings to keep growing for roughly nine months or more, and says that downturns and setbacks will remain buying opportunities for now. Plus, Sam Burns, chief strategist at Mill Street Research, brings his earnings-expectation driven style of investing to the Market Call.

Karl Mills, partner at Cerity Partners, says that the U.S. economy remains strong, there are some headwinds facing the stock market and that investors should go back to basics — diversifying across borders and industries and looking for investments they will hold long-term. Mills made it clear that he's optimistic for the long term, noting that investors are more likely to be thrown off by the problems that are not yet obvious — "It's not the monster in the closet that gets you," he says, "it's the one under the bed that you're not paying attention to that is going to get you" — so they need to have a time horizon that looks beyond those issues. Ed Slott, the founder of IRAhelp.com, returns to the show to discuss his new book, out this week, “The Retirement Savings Time Bomb Ticks Louder,” suggesting that converting traditional retirement accounts to tax-free Roth accounts is going to be worth it for most investors, noting that paying the taxes now is a form of insurance against Congress changing laws and rai

Brad Lamensdorf, strategist at the Lamensdorf Market-Timing Report and manager of the Ranger Equity Bear ETF, says there's "a lot of stock in a lot of weak hands," which tends to lead to a serious correction, and he says the market is due for a 15 to 25 percent pullback. Further, he notes that bear market corrections tend to "be more significant" in a high-rate market like the one being faced today; Lamensdorf notes that while the market is near record highs and has gone up sharply this year, so too has his bear-market fund, highlighting just how thin the bullish sentiment and market breadth are. Lamensdorf says that investing in the Magnificent Seven stocks has been great stock picking in a market that has not favored stock pickers, highlighting that this "is a great long-short stock-picking environment right now." Dave Lamb, head of closed-end funds at Nuveen, says there is a "much more aggressive form of activism today than what we saw years ago," driven mostly by discount-arbitrage opportunities rather th

Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com, discusses a just-released survey which shows that Americans are getting fed up with being asked to leave a tip at everything from a self-service checkout counter to a pick-your-own strawberry farm. The survey showed that nearly 3 in 5 American adults have at least one negative view of tipping, with a surprising number being upset enough that they have stopped tipping even at sit-down restaurants. Bruce Kahn, lead portfolio manager at Shelton Sustainable Equity Fund discusses how ESG investing has moved past simple screening techniques, but for all the good of sustainability it still boils down to valuations. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, goes small-cap with his ETF of the Week, and Chuck answers a question from a listener who wants to know if the long-time favorite investment of her father is something she should hold onto now that she has inherited it.  

Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab, says that the Federal Reserve should be cutting rates now rather than waiting, so the central bank will be deserving of the blame if we get a recession in 2025. Jones worries that central bankers have become "too spooked by inflation," and says they should be less cautious and more forward-looking, and that kind of action could be reflected in one or two rate cuts before the end of the year. Historian William Hogeland discusses his new book, "The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding," and brings modern context to Alexander Hamilton by noting whether either major political party -- as well as the wildly popular Broadway play -- actually reflect the historical measure of the man. Plus, Andrew Guillette, vice president of global insights at Broadridge Financial Solutions, discusses the firm's massive research study into the investing habits of 40 million U.S. retail individual investors, with the trends showing th

Alan McKnight, chief investment officer at Regions Asset Management, sees storm clouds on the horizon for the market and the economy, but his outlook remains benign, suggesting that a well-diversified portfolio will withstand heightened volatility for the remainder over the year. He says we have experienced a muted, rolling downturn and doesn't see a full-blown recession happening. By comparison, Avi Gilburt, founder of the Elliott Wave Trader, entered the year calling for the market to reach record highs no later than the second quarter — which it has — but then to turn into the start of a full-blown bear market that will last years and bring the Standard & Poor's 500 down by well over 50 percent. Gilburt says that the market remains on track for that. In the middle of that kind of disagreement, it's hard for investors to know what to do, and Andy Reed, head of investor behavior research at Vanguard, discusses research into certain biases that are leading most investors to make mistakes that result in di

Joe Boyle, Fixed Income Investment Strategist for the Hartford Funds, says that the re-set in fixed-income after rates popped up in 2022 and 2023 have made it unimportant to bond investors whether the Federal Reserve cuts rates any time soon, because the yields should remain strong. That said, Boyle said he was looking further out the yield curve — especially is it looks likely to normalize after two years of being inverted — because adding longer, high-quality bonds will pay off when the rate environment changes. Kyle Guske, investment analyst at New Constructs, put EventBrite — a stock that had been in the Danger Zone right after it went public in 2018 — back into the Danger Zone now, Jaime Dunaway-Seale discusses a Clever Real Estate survey showing that nearly half of all recent homebuyers say they feel over their head financially having made the purchase, and Martin Leclerc, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Barrack Yard Advisors, talks stocks in the Market Call.

Jeffrey Hirsch, editor-in-chief of the Stock Traders’ Almanac — chief investment officer at Hirsch Holdings — says that calendar effects and seasonal sell signals may be indicating that it's time to "sell in May and go away," but he says long-term investors have plenty of reason to remain bullish enough thanks to election effects and more that investors "have no need to go away," so long as they can put up with the market's increased chop over the summer. Hirsch noted that the election effects suggest that the market will benefit from having a second-term president — regardless of who wins in November — but that there tends to be weakness in the first two years of any lame-duck president, which means he may take a more cautionary stance once the election passes in November. John Cole Scott, president of Closed-End Fund Advisors — chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance — talks about the good and bad in recent industry trends that have fund sponsors taking steps to keep a lid on discounts and to red

Simeon Hyman, global investment strategist at ProShares, is doubling down on a forecast he made before 2024 started, in which he said the outcome of the year for the market and economy was not "all about the Fed." He says the Federal Reserve's grip on the economy has eased, largely because the long end of the yield curve is free from the tight grip of the Federal Reserve. With the long end of the yield curve driving equity prices, Hyman thinks the market can find more room to run, and that's what he is expecting, although he does think there is an economic downturn with a soft landing in our near future. Hyman notes that valuations remain difficult, though he explains how using equal-weighted funds should pay off a little better moving forward. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, turns towards an all-purpose commodity fund for his "ETF of the Week," Cassandra Happe, an analyst at WalletHub, discusses how consumers expect to use credit cards to pay for their summer travel and how they can help thems

Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, expects consumers to keep spending and to help power the economy through at least the end of the year without a recession, but he notes that if the Federal Reserve ultimately decides that it's going to 2 percent inflation or bust, there will be a bust for the consumer and the economy, with the current party ending in a potentially protracted period of struggles. Jack Nelson, portfolio manager of the global emerging markets sustainability strategy at Stewart Investors, says that while many investors are avoiding China, it's important to not be so fearful as to miss out on the opportunity that a number of companies there represent, due to valuations that are more compelling in much hotter markets like India. Sarah Foster, analyst at Bankrate.com discusses the site's latest survey showling that while nearly nine of 10 Americans know what financial success looks like in their life, only one in four think they will achieve it. Plus, Chuck answers a listener's q

Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson Group, notes that the economic news and growth remain so strong that "the odds of recession are quite low."Detrick notes that 10 of 11 sectors in the Standard & Poor's 500 are higher year-to-date, which is why his firm is overweight in equities generally, and has been adding to financials and industrials in particular. Detrick says there are several disconnects between hard and soft data -- soft data shows low consumer confidence but hard data shows strong retail sales -- and he is trusting the hard data to see the economy continue to broaden out for the remainder of the year. Also on the show, Chuck explains how the new securities settlement standard of "T+1" will affect individual investors, and while he explains that the changes are minimal and won't be noticed by a lot of everyday investors, he also lays out that virtually every stock, bond and ETF trade moving forward will be impacted by the new rules. Plus, in the Market Call, long-time CNBC contri

Jeff Bishop, chief executive officer at RagingBull, says that the market is showing signs of topping out, though he thinks that the building downturn now will likely be short and not too steep before a rally again chases record highs. Bishop notes that "all of the bears have been destroyed," so there are few investors betting against the market, which is typically a sign that trouble is ahead. Bishop notes that those bearish investors were tired of their losses, and that betting against the market now would be risky, but he says there is more downside risk than potential upside right now. Sam Millette, senior investment strategist at Commonwealth Financial Network, says that as the market adjusts to the Federal Reserve delaying rate cuts as long as possible, it will set up the market for a better second half of the year. Stephen Minar, head of closed-end funds at BlackRock, discusses how discounts drive money flows into closed-end funds, but they also attract activist investors whose actions may be harmful to

Rusty Vanneman, chief investment strategist at Orion Wealth Management, says that while the economy has been stronger than investors expected entering the year — and isn't likely to have a sudden reversal — investors need to heed the warning signs and balance optimism with caution, remaining properly diversified. He notes that some international markets are particularly well-positioned right now in terms of valuations compared to domestic equities, particularly in hot industries like artificial intelligence, where the bargains are more with global stocks. Vanneman also likes real assets and discusses the importance of adding alternatives to generate both returns and stability. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, talks about adding international bonds to the portfolio mix with his pick for the ETF of the Week, Chuck answers a listener's question about properly selecting bonds and bond funds for a retirement portfolio, and Les Rubin of Main Street Economics discusses his new book, “Why You Should Give