Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

Dan Fuss, vice chairman at Loomis Sayles & Co. — one of the longest-tenured and most decorated bond fund managers in history — says that the Federal Reserve has done its job and managed to avoid most of the trouble that observers feared was coming. Moreover, it has positioned the economy and the bond market to keep humming along. Yet Fuss also singles out several factors, including climate change and geo-politics, that are not usually factors in bond investing that are having a big impact on bond investing now. WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo discusses the site's research on the best and most-popular gift cards for the holiday season, and Tobias Carlisle, founder of the Acquirers Funds, talks in the Market Call about how he practices deep-value investing at a time when the market is at record-high levels.

Louis Navellier, chief investment officer at Navellier & Associates, says investors "have a lot to look forward to," starting with a strong ending to the year and a big January effect, but he notes that conditions are right to keep the economy chugging along and pushing through the occasional stumble and correction. That said, he notes in The Big Interview that he is worried about the potential for trouble in the private credit market — where investors have been chasing super high yields for several years — to potentially create a full-blown market crash, akin to what the market experienced in 2008. Navellier also talks about his stock-picking methodology and his grading system in The Market Call. In the Talking Technicals segment, Xander Gray, founder and chief executive officer at XG Capital Strategies says that there's a recession and significant market drop coming, likely to start before the end of the first quarter of the new year. The recession is the fallout of the inverted yield curve; while many

Todd Kellenberger, portfolio manager for public REITs at Principal Asset Management, expects that the Federal Reserve will make two to three interest rate cuts in 2025, but that the way rates move will be the real determinant in how the year plays out for real estate investors. Kellenberger says that the central bank's actions will be determined by inflation and jobs data, but he notes that if rates stay benign it will still be a good market for real estate, with the potential for much more if rates move more and the economy has a soft landing where real estate fundamentals improve. He gives his outlook for a variety of REIT types in a wide-ranging Big Interview. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs puts MicroStrategy Inc. in the Danger Zone, noting that the company is essentially a costly, leveraged play on bitcoin with more risk than an investor would face just owning cryptocurrency directly. And Michael Lowenberg, portfolio manager for the Modern Capital Tactical Income fund, talks in the

Brandon Thurber, chief market strategist at Regions Asset Management, says the market is looking strong for the next 12 to 18 months, provided it can avoid a big earnings shortfall. With high earnings expectations, he sees earnings pressure overhanging a market that is overbought but which still has pockets that represent good values. Thurber sees the market broadening out, with mid-caps being part of the rally but small companies likely to keep struggling, delivering moderate growth despite increased levels of volatility than investors have seen this year. Likewise, Buck Klintworth of Chase Investment Counsel — co-manager of the Chase Growth Fund — says that all of the market's underlying fundamentals are positive right now, and he suggests to stick with a friendly trend, even though they should look for "any cracks that begin to develop" that could be signs that the economy is turning. Kevin Mahn, president and chief investment officer at Hennion & Walsh Asset Management — which runs the Smart Trust Uni

Lauren Sanfilippo, senior investment strategist for Bank of America Merrill and Private Bank, says that the market has reached highs on the backs of a few stocks, but that it is now rotating away from those popular trades. That will reward investors who stay balanced and diversified as the market broadens out next year, moving away from the Magnificent Seven stocks and a few names driving results to rewarding more companies with solid balance sheets in sectors from defense to technology, industrials and more. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, makes a short-duration, actively managed fixed-income fund his ETF of the Week. WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo, discusses the site's research into how average rates on department-store credit cards have popped to roughly 33 percent, but also how consumers looking to deferred interest deals wind up paying more because they don't understand how the programs work. Plus, Chuck answers a listener's question about paper stock certificates.

Simeon Hyman, global investment strategist at ProShares, sees "rational exuberance" on today's market, noting that the stock market is a little bit expensive but not dramatically above long-term normal forward earnings numbers, and he notes that expectations are reasonable, a little  high but reasonable. Further, he suggests that all-time low levels of leverage and little debt on the books of the Standard & Poor's 500 is "a significant risk offset" to the current worries that make investors nervous. Author Michael Sincere — who writes the Long-Term Trader column at MarketWatch — discusses his new book, “Help Your Child Build Wealth: A Parents' Guide to Teaching Children to be Successful Investors,” and then sticks around to discuss technical analysis and how he sees the market moving on from the election and through the change of administrations into 2025.

Josef Schuster, president of IPOX Schuster, says that the market for initial public offerings isn't just hot right now — it has outperformed the stock market this year, despite the market having gone up to record-high levels — but it is safer than it has been in years, with fewer issues going public and with much of the risk of default having been shifted to the pre-IPO market. And while artificial-intelligence plays have gotten a lot of the headlines and attention, Schuster says that industrials and other sectors have seen more stable and generally more profitable IPO activity. Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Wholesale Beer Association says that the November Beer Purchasers Index shows a highly unusual but completely neutral outlook for distributor sentiment, meaning the industry can't tell if times are bullish or bearish with year-end in sight. Plus college financial aid advisor Jack Wang, host of the new "Smart College Buyer" podcast, helps Chuck answer a listener's question about college lo

Bill Smead, manager of the Smead Value Fund, (SMVLX), says that the market has "all the pre-conditions for the [Standard and Poor's 500 to do very poorly," noting that current conditions are the "antithesis of 1980," when everyone got excited about Ronald Reagan took office at a time when stocks were cheap and inflation and interest rates are high. This time, he says, people are getting excited "at the end of a huge run .... a financial euphoria episode." He says in the Market Call that these conditions will lead to strong market performance over the next two decades, but to much tougher sledding over the next few years. One area that investors might turn to for relief would be gold, which has been on a big run in 2024 to get to record-high levels, and Everett Millman, precious metals specialist at Gainesville Coins, says he thinks that precious metals rally and gains are sustainable for at least the next 18 months — even if it goes through a short-term correction caused by profit-taking — because the conditi

John Cole Scott, president of Closed-End Fund Advisors and the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, looks at how discounts have narrowed in closed-end funds amid the strong market this year, but he digs into his firm's data to find three closed-end funds and one business development company trading at attractive discounts to make them appropriate picks for year-end portfolio moves. Julia Toothacre discusses a ResumeTemplates.com, study showing that six-in 10 employees will be shopping Black Friday sales while at work today, Chuck discusses the ultimate financial gift to give your relatives this (and every year) -- so that you can get your shopping done before the shopping season even starts in earnest -- and Eric Marshall, president of Hodges Capital Management, talks small-cap investing in the Market Call.

Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group, likes small-cap stocks, financials and consumer discretionary and industrial companies, saying he expects a lot of the recent winners to slow as part of a shift in leadership that could lead to a market that slows or creates attractive buying opportunities with intermediate-term losses. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, returns to the Standard & Poor's 500 for the second week in a row, but this time picks an all-time classic that has been having record inflows as his "ETF of the Week." And in the Market Call, Christopher Zook, president of CAZ Investments, talks about looking for long-term themes, but buying them at reasonable prices, and discusses how that has him handling a hot space like artificial intelligence.

Carley Garner, senior commodity strategist at DeCarley Trading, sees the stock market completing its current rally with a small gain that would move the Standard and Poor's 500 to about 6,200. But once the holiday euphoria passes, she sees the market being hit, taking the S&P 500 down to roughly 4800. She also worries about how gold and oil prices will play out as the second Trump administration follows through on some of its campaign promises. Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst and Washington bureau chief at BankRate.com, discusses the site's latest survey on Americans' Social Security needs, noting that more than half of the nation's not-yet-retired workers expect to rely on the program to pay for "necessary expenses," but nearly three-quarters of Americans are concerned they won't get their promised benefits once they hit retirement age. Plus, Chuck answers a listener's questions about hiring a financial adviser to help manage an inheritance.

The National Association for Business Economics released its November Outlook Survey today, and nearly all of the economists surveyed expect moderating growth and slowing inflation but, most importantly, no recession until at least 2026. Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide and the outlook survey chairperson for NABE, called the results "Goldilock-ish," noting that forecasting firmer growth and slower inflation than they did in September, the economists are effectively expecting a near-perfect landing for the economy, with downside expectations decreased. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs, revisits Beyond Meat, noting that a number of different Danger Zone picks have recently had big rebounds, but that the plant-based meat maker hasn't gotten that kind of life support from the market, which is why he expects it to complete its destiny as a "zombie stock" in 2025. Plus, Nael Fakhry, portfolio manager for the Osterweis Growth and Income fund, discusses "quality growth companies"

After waiting over three years for "one of the worst recessions ever anticipated that never happened," Edward Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research, says that the economy is now moving forward without much recession worry, buoyed by consumer spending — especially from Baby Boomers — and rate cuts from the Federal Reserve that he considered mostly unnecessary. Yardeni sees the economy going through another "Roaring 20s" period, and while the one a century ago ended in the Great Depression, he does think that outcome is not inevitable provided the government can keep debt and deficit levels under control while riding out the benefits of the "Digital Revolution" that includes all of the excitement around artificial intelligence and technology. Kendall Dilley, portfolio manager at Vineyard Global Advisors says the market's technicals are showing all green lights for a continuing bull market, and investors should lean in and treat downturns as buying opportunities. Dilley makes a c

George Bory, chief investment strategist for fixed income at Allspring Global Investments, says that 'the soft landing was earlier this year,' and now the Federal Reserve is trying to "prevent a recession in an otherwise fairly healthy but unevenly distributed economy." Bory notes that central bankers typically cut interest rates to stimulate a slowing economy, but that's not the case currently in the United States, where he says the Fed is trying to bring rates down more in line with inflation, and that has changed the shape of the yield curve, dropping short-term rates but making it that long-term rates — including mortgage rates — aren't likely to fall by much even with additional rate cuts. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi picks a market-index fund with an options overlay — an ETF that's delivering yields of roughly 9 percent — as his "ETF of the Week." Thomas Cole, co-founder of Distillate Capital — a firm that makes "stability" a prime factor in its investment methodology — brings his number

Nick Nefouse, global head of retirement solutions in the multi-asset strategies and solutions team at BlackRock, says that in a world where investors are increasingly nervous about sequence-of-return risk — the potential for the market to crater just as they start withdrawing from their retirement nestegg, forever damaging their finances — and longevity risk, investors may be looking for ways to lock in income, so that they can avoid those concerns. He discusses how investors should be reconsidering risk as they enter "the retirement window," which he notes starts in your 50s and runs for some people into their 70s. Jon Stubbs, analyst at Clever Real Estate, talks about what has been happening to the average real estate commission in light of a settlement that was supposed to change the way buyer's agents were compensated and reduce costs for seller in the process. Plus, Chuck discusses a little error he made in a financial transaction this weekend that could have turned into a huge problem, and how and why i

Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial expects the stock market's return levels to "return to normal," which means slower growth but not anything that ends the bull market as it rolls through its third year. Turnquist does think the short-term action has put the bulls on trial, forcing them to prove that the market can go higher without some sort of interim downturn. Turnquist thinks the market could take a setback to its Halloween lows, but that action would be an opportunity to buy the dip. Charlie Bobrinskoy, vice chairman and portfolio manager at Ariel Investments, brings his classic, Warren Buffett-style of value investing to the Market Call, and Chuck talks about how the car dealer who sold his step-daughter the car that exacerbated her ear problems resolved the issue over this weekend, and the valuable — and pricey — lessons he and his step-daughter took away from the process.

Fritz Folts, chief investment strategist at 3EDGE Asset Management, sees "unprecedented degrees of overvaluation" in the market, and he says the market is "dramatically overvalued" and at risk of a severe correction, but he notes that economic and fundamental models are pretty good, and investor behavior keeps driving momentum, so the positives continue to drive the market more than the overvaluation does. That means the market can rise from here, but Folts thinks investors should use "targeted diversification" over many asset classes to make it work. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs, also thinks the market is severely overvalued, and he singles out Shake Shack — which is up nearly 140 percent over the last year — as an example of something that is severely overpriced and due for a fall. Plus, Chuck discusses troubles with a recent used-car purchase by his step-daughter, and the financial lessons the transaction is actively teaching him now.

David Keller, president and chief strategist at Sierra Alpha Research says that the market has made meaningful moves to landmark new highs but he questions whether the rally is sustainable. He says that market leaders like the Magnificent Seven need to keep rolling to propel the indexes higher, and he says that weakness is showing up in Alphabet and Meta Platforms, which makes him believe that the market's upside potential at this point may be limited. Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, says that the red sweep of the election has improved business confidence and sentiment over what is coming through the policy pipeline, and says that the prospect of tax cuts, a lighter regulatory regime and on-shoring of manufacturing will continue to propel the animal spirits of the market, and while inflation-sensitive sectors will struggle, he is confident that the economy can overcome tariff uncertainty and other issues to remain strong. Josh Duitz, portfolio manager for the Aberdeen Global Infrastructu

Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute discusses the firm's research looking at whether campaign promises have translated into long-term outperformance for sectors that were likely to benefit from proposed policies, and while there were positive gains in the immediate aftermath of elections, many sectors underperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 Index over the following four years. As a result, Christopher suggests caution for anyone expecting president-elect Trump's "Drill baby drill" plan to turn into oversized oil-industry gains once he takes office. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, turns to regional banks for his ETF of the Week, noting that while they have been up sharply since election day, there is reason to expect that this rally has legs. Plus, we have tow interviews conducted at the Active Investment Company Alliance's Fall Roundtable in New York on Nov. 13, where Chuck talked with individual investor Jim Cohen and then discussed

Laurence Kotlikoff, professor of economics at Boston University — the founder of Maxifi, which factors economics into personal financial planning — says that while the economy is humming along now, investors should be wary of the potential for trouble, especially stemming from the high levels of tariffs that were a part of President Donald Trump's campaign promises. Kotlikoff — who hosts the Economics Matters podcast — worries that if tariffs are placed at levels not seen since the Great Depression, they could result in dramatic inflation and other problems as other nations respond and retaliate. Kotlikoff also discusses how investors should be thinking about the timing for making Roth IRA conversions now, and how to determine the right amount of life insurance to hold. Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of the Stock Trader's Almanac, returns to the show to discuss the latest print edition of the almanac for 2025, and how a classic effort like a printed almanac fits into a market world that leans hard into technology. Pl