Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

Today, Money Life debuts its latest feature, The Financial Crunch with Money Pickle, a fin-tech company that is changing the financial world by making affordable and convenient financial coaching available to investors. Brent Thurman, Money Pickle's chief executive, discusses finding a financial adviser and how investors have it so much better now that technology can make the process smooth and easy. Kelley Wright, editor at Investment Quality Trends, returns to the show for the first time since 2017, and discusses his take on how to pick value stocks in the Market Call. Plus, Ken Costa, author of "The 100 Trillion Dollar Wealth Transfer: How the Handover from Boomers to Gen Z Will Revolutionize Capitalism," and Chuck discusses his Super Bowl Ad/IPO indicator, which suggests that the real losers of this weekend's big game will be investors in young companies advertising during the telecast.

Jim Thorne, economist/chief market strategist at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, says that "The Fed is the Fed of the world," and that how central bankers act in the United States act will determine the economic prospects of the rest of the world, and he worries that as the Federal Reserve tightens, it could over-tighten and create economic issues. He expects a growth shock, but says the U.S. will get through it and remain the best market to invest in around the globe. Michele Schneider, chief strategist at MarketGauge.com, says that the "inside sectors of the U.S. economy" -- small caps, retail and transportation -- will be the ones that tell the economic story moving forward; she says those sectors are still adjusting, to the end of zero-interest rate policy but are showing signs that there should be plenty of opportunity there for the rest of the year. Also, entrepreneur Madeline Pendleton discusses her new book, “I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Everything I Wish I Never Had to

Pedro Palandrani, head of research at Global X, says that the continued evolution of the electric vehicle market will make it so that lithium and copper companies are the next equivalent of the Big Oil stocks, but he worries that the industries are among the most sensitive globally to geopolitical risk, which he says investors should factor into their allocation decisions. In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday, David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs foregoes the Danger Zone in favor of talking about an attractive stock this week, and he singles out Photronics as a company which despite good recent numbers has a long way to go. Plus Dan Skubiz, chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager at ZCM, makes his debut in the Market Call talking about investing in small=-cap stocks at a time when a few mega-cap names have been dominating the market.

Jim Welsh, author of "Macro Tides" and the "Weekly Technical Review" newsletters says that if the market can rally past recent highes -- with the Standard & Poor's 500 topping 4931 -- it will finish the market's recent rally and leave stocks vulnerable to a small correction over the next few months. That said, Welsh believes in a 17-year cycle that his charts show dates back nearly 100 years, and that cycle is cooking up a coming secular bear market that ultimately could last for a decade and crater the market in the process. Susan Fahy discusses the latest "CreditGauge" measures from VantageScore, which show that the consumer is showing signs of financial stress, but the action hasn't been as bad in most areas as the headlines might suggest. Ian Merrill of SCG Asset Management and The Alternative Strategies Income Fund talks about how money managers can add derivatives to a portfolio in ways that mitigate risks but goose returns over the long haul, and Vince Lorusso, president/portfolio manager of Cloug

Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, says investors should be looking at an equal-weighted approach to the market -- allowing all winners to have a chance to succeed -- despite the strong 2023 put up by the Standard & Poor's 500, a market-cap weighted index whose results were dominated by the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks. Rosenbluth made the Invesco S&P 500 Equal-Weight Technology ETF his ETF of the Week, noting that while the tech sector is a big part of most asset allocations, most of the money has been going into the few names rather than the broad group of stocks. Also on the show, Ted Rossman on the latest Bankrate.com study on financial infidelity, which showed that 40 percent of people in live-in romantic relationships are keeping financial secrets from their spouse or partner. Long-time financial journalist and money coach Lynette Khalfani-Cox returns to the show to discuss financial literacy efforts, student loan repayments, money media and more, and Rob Isbitts brings the met

Mark Hebner, chief executive officer at Index Fund Advisors, says that the dominant action of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks is nothing new, and that the market has long shown a propensity for companies to have oversized performance as their shares moved into the top 10 of an index, only to then regress toward the mean. It's not just why he thinks the Magnificent Seven will cool off in the not-too-distant future, but it reinforces investors using index funds to ride out the market rather than trying to be stock-pickers and falling prey to the market moving against them. Matt Brannon, data analyst with Clever Real Estate, discusses the site's 2024 State of Retirement Finances report, which found that 40 percent of retirees worry about living their savings and nearly 20 percent more say they already have. Plus, Chuck answers a listener's question about selecting bond funds, and author Ernest Scheyder discusses his new book, "The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives."

Michael Kelly, global head of multi-asset at PineBridge Investments, says that the Federal Reserve seems to have pulled off the rare soft landing, and that portends good things ahead because previous soft landings -- in 1964, 1984 and 1994 -- the markets mostly rewarded investors who invested "as if it was late cycle," where growth funds tend to lead the way. Kelly does think the market has gotten a bit ahead of itself, but still thinks the year should be positive; he also notes that investors will want to add to the fixed income side of their portfolios, and he currently likes intermediate-term investments given the shifts ahead in the yield curve. Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at BankRate.com discusses the site's lates Emergency Savings Report, which shows that only 44 percent of Americans say they could afford to pay for a $1,000 emergency expense, plus we introduce a new sponsor to the show as veteran money manager Rob Isbitts talks about his latest venture, ETFYourself.com and, in the Market Call

Sheraz Mian, director of research at Zacks Investment Research -- which focuses on earnings results for much of its forecasting -- says that with about one quarter of companies having now reported earnings results for 2023, the numbers look like "more of the same, more of the good stuff." He doesn't expect growth to be impressive this year, but there's also not much negative guidance or gloomy outlooks from companies, and he expects that mixed but largely benign environment to last through the year. Meanwhile, Hamish Preston, director of U.S. equity indices for S&P Dow Jones Indices, talks about the market's recent record highs and what they portend for the year ahead, noting that In years when the S&P 500 hits a new peak in January, gains tend to be higher than normal for the year, an average gain of roughly 10.5 percent compared to years when the market fails to reach record levels until later. Plus, David Trainer of New Constructs puts a large-cap fund that gets a four-star rating from Morningstar

Brian Allen, chief investment officer at CS McKee, says "The market has done a lot of the easing work to launch the easing campaign in 2024," meaning that the Federal Reserve will not feel much pressure to cut rates more than four times this year.  He says there's no pressure for more due to the bond market rallying over the last few months while the stock market was moving to all-time highs; that also raised valuations to where investors should lower their return expectations for both stocks and bonds this year. Also on the show, Jenny Naughton, executive vice president for Chubb Personal Risk Services, about the firm's recent study showing that wealthy Americans consider extreme weather -- and the damage it could do --as the biggest threats to their wealth this year, Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at VettaFi, sizes up the ETFs that invest in closed-end funds, and William Smead of the Smead Value fund talks stocks in the Market Call.

Brett Ewing, chief market strategist at First Franklin Financial Services, says that while he expects large-cap stocks -- led by the Magnificent Seven names -- to have a positive year that could potentially see returns in the 8 to 9 percent range, the market has set up for smaller companies to really pay off. He says that small-and mid-cap stocks are trading at reasonable levels, giving them the potential to gain 15 to 25 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, Todd Rosenbluth is looking to stick with large-cap stocks -- but finding a cheaper way to own them while favoring value stocks -- as he picks a new large-cap index-based fund from Goldman Sachs as his ETF of the Week. Michael Young, director of education and outreach at the Sustainable Investment Forum, gives his outlook for ESG investing -- and for the controversies and politicization of funds with environmental, social and governance agendas -- in the year ahead, before Todd Jones, chief investment officer at Gratus Capital makes his debut in the Market Call tal

Kevin Mahn, president and chief investment officer at Hennion & Walsh, says that he expects interest rates, yields and inflation to all be lower over the next three years, and that the economy will start growing more robustly once the rate cuts start. That is setting up a strong three-year run for stocks and bonds, one that Mahn thinks most investors should intuitively be expecting and be comfortable with. Stanford University professor Anat Admati, co-author of "The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It," discusses how the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other troubles that occurred in 2023 are not really over, and why the system that has immunized banks from most troubles has also ensured that troubles will keep happening. Plus, in the Market Call, Craig Sarembock, wealth adviser at Bartlett Wealth Management, talks about finding growth stocks at reasonable prices.

Jeff Weniger, head of equity strategy at WisdomTree Asset Management, says that the "rip-roaring rally" that started in late October on account of declining interest rates, and it slowed in January but now "Boom, suddenly you're back off to the races" with the stock market at new highs and the Standard & Poor's 500 now eyeing 5000. Weniger notes that there are plenty of concerns for the rally, and he notes that a downturn could test the classic 60-40 portfolio, where he thinks investors may be disappointed with how fixed income does its job of providing portfolio protection. Talking technicals, Lawrence McMillan of McMillan Analysis says he is staying bullish, but he is on alert for changes because the current rally feels similar to January 2018 or 2020, both years that had solid starts only to turn ugly in February and March. Plus, Ronan McMahon discusses a study from International Living Magazine showing what countries people want to move to for their retirement years and what the most popular destinati

Bryan Shipley, co-chief executive/chief investment officer at Arnerich Massena, says that yields are more attractive overseas and there is the emergence of growth internationally, but domestic markets have deserved their higher valuation. Still, when he sees a struggle between domestic and international markets, it's usually a sign of leadership changing, which is one reason why he's keeping clients in foreign investments; it's part of a strategy where he recommends investors "choose their own reality," deciding where they want to participate among many opportunities and stories around the market. Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com, discusses the site's latest survey, which shows that 56 million credit cardholders have been revolving their debt on plastic for at least a year. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs revisits one of the original meme stocks and discusses why he thinks its picture is growing very dark, and hedge fund manager Steven Grey of Grey Value Management

Zach Jonson, chief investment officer at Stack Financial Management, says that the top-heavy nature of the stock market -- with so few stocks driving the bulk of returns in 2023 -- is going to make it hard for the standard & Poor's 500 index to gain much ground this year, though he notes that as investors have been chasing the same small group of stocks in a few sectors, other "high quality parts of the market have become notably more attractive." He compared it to the tech bubble of the late 1990s -- "the last time you had concentration anywhere close to what you have now" -- where certain sectors that lagged while the bubble was inflating became bargains. As a result, Jonson suggested investors invest in the defensive areas that the market has left behind over the last year. Also on the show, Cheryl Pate, manager of the Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust, gives her outlook for the banking sector this year and talks about the importance of focusing on credit quality as the rate cycle progre

Corin Frost, managing director at Helios Quantitative Research, says that while economic indicators are largely strong and positive, the stock market is not as connected to wave, largely because the Magnificent Seven stocks have driven so much performance that their ability to continue with good relative performance will go a long way to determining the year in the market, regardless of economic growth numbers. Todd Rosenbluth, director of research at VettaFi, picks his favorite of the brand new spot Bitcoin funds as the ETF of the Week and explains why his pick stands out from the crowd of new funds. Plus, Chuck answers a listener's question about Cathie Wood and the ARK Funds and discusses the feast-and-famine nature of their performance, and Josh West, portfolio manager at Buffalo Mid Cap, talks growth investing in the Market Call.

Technical analyst Michael Sincere of Michael Sincere’s Long-Term Trader sees the market as being ready to struggle in 2024, but he notes that trends in earnings will do the most to determine how it turns out, and if any of the Magnificent Seven stocks -- which spearheaded the market's dramatic gains in 2023 -- should stumble, he forecasts a major market decline. Chuck Mitchell of The Conference Board discusses the group's "C-Suite Outlook for 2024," which showed that top executives both domestically and abroad are scared of inflation and a potential recession, but most say they have not prepared for those potential outcomes yet. Plus, financial adviser Christopher Manske discusses his new book, "Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and The IRS" and, in the Market Call, Kevin Rendino, chief executive officer at 180 Degree Capital, discusses value investing and activist management in small- and micro-cap investing.

Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American, expects the housing market to be better in 2024, and while it won't be as hot as it was during the pandemic nor as cold as it was after that run, "it's not quite right yet either, just better." He says the Federal Reserve's actions -- and he expects three or four rate cuts this year -- will determine just how strong the economy and the housing market are this year. Still, he thinks a downturn for the broad economy could actually help the real estate market. Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar, discusses last week's Securities and Exchange Commission approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, and how investors should size up the resulting boom of new cryptocurrency funds. In the Market Call, Michael Campagna, senior investment analyst at Moerus Capital Management talks about global deep-value investing.

Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, says that the market "is a bit out over its skis" in terms of when the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates and how many cuts will happen in 2024, but that may create volatility and determine whether there is another rally in the current cycle. Brusuelas says the economy is in the middle of a soft landing and keeps looking strong, which should mute or limit just how much slowing happens moving forward. Jeffrey Bierman, founder of The QuantGuy.com and chief market technician at TheoTrade.com, says the market is overextended and due for a "garden variety 10 percent correction," but there is room for investors to hunt and peck for opportunities. Also on the show, Aaron Filbeck of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association says that it's naive for investors to lump a wide range of mainstream investment options under the label of "alternative." Plus, Justin Carbonneau of Validea.com talks about the expert methodologies that are working the best i

Bob Doll, chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments, returns with his annual  forecasts for the stock market, the economy, the financial industry and more in the year ahead. He notes that the consensus for 2024 is a soft landing, but he thinks the lagged impact of everything that cause recessions -- massively higher interest rates, retail inventory levels rising, savings rates coming down and more -- will finally lead to a mild recession in the middle of this year. Doll also thinks that stocks could finish the year in the red. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of Vettafi turns to an actively managed short-term bond fund for his ETF of the Week, and Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners, talks "beat and raise investing" in the Market Call.

Lindsey Bell, chief strategist at 248 Ventures -- formerly chief markets strategist at Ally Invest -- is optimistic that the stock market can avoid big troubles in 2024, and is looking for a "return to normal,' in terms of the market's breadth of movers and returns. still, she includes technology stocks -- typically considered an aggressive play -- as part of the defensive plans that investors should be making for the year ahead. She also talks about the norms she expects to see maintained in international investing and more. Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at BankRate.com talks about his forecast for all types of interest rates in 2024, and while the rate picture is different from the market situation, he too is looking for more of a return to traditional expectations. In the Market Call, Leah Bennett, president of Westwood Wealth Management, talks stocks.