Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

Melanie Lieberman, senior travel editor at ThePointsGuy.com, discusses the unique challenges people are facing now as they try to plan summer vacations and family trips at a time when traveling presents a very real health risk. Also on the show, Jeff Kolitch, manager of the Baron Real Estate Fund, joins Chuck to chat about how investors benefit when they look past REITs and go for service-companies and home builders in the real estate space -- though he also likes real estate investment trusts despite their recent struggles -- while David Trainer of New Constructs says a particularly 'nutty' stock is actually much less dangerous than the market seems to believe right now, and Andrey Kutusov of the Seven Canyons World Innovators Fund talks global stock investing in the Market Call.

Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers, says that while thw worst of the stock market's troubles should be behind us, there is a long way to go before he can say things are good. Right now, he says, it's more of a 'less bad' environment, with the market grinding higher and climbing the proverbial wall of worry. He suggests strong positions in domestic equities, most notably in technology and other buoyant sectors while riding through volatility. Also on the show, John Cole Scott of Closed-End Fund Advisors and the Active Investment Company Alliance looks at how closed-end funds rebounded in the second quarter, posting strong results despite huge dividend cuts; while closed-end issues remain down on average for the year, he notes that wider discounts make them particularly attractive at this point, especially for income-oriented investors. Jared Kizer of Buckingham Strategic Partners discusses how he advises clients who are getting nervous to 'do something' at a time when the bes

Michael Kagan, portfolio manager for ClearBridge Investments, says in the Market Call that investors are looking at a 'very concentrated market,' noting that a huge percentage of the market's recent gains have been driven by just 10 stocks and pointing out that the last time the market was this concentrated was during the first quarter of 2000, just before the Internet bubble burst. While he's not expecting any similar dire outcomes, Kagan notes that investors are scared and betting on the names that are producing results now, but that the popular stocks will suffer when investors feel safe to once again venture further from their comfort levels. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com makes a new issue that covers a hot-topic niche his ETF of the Week, Neesha Hathi of Charles Schwab talks 'stock slices,' which let investors buy fractional shares of stock commission-free for a few bucks at a time, and Andrew Beer of the iM DBi Hedge Strategy ETF talks about how the market and hedge funds have reacted to

Rob Sharps, head of investments at T. Rowe Price, says investors need to focus on balance sheets, fundamentals and 'the ability of businesses to make it to the other side [of the pandemic] with their businesses intact,' and warns that we're well past the point where investors can buy stocks broadly and expect to benefit from a recovery. 'Aggregate market valuations,' he says, 'have never been more meaningless,' making the case for tactical decision-making and solid stock-picking. Earlier on the show, Fritz Folts, chief investment strategist at 3EDGE Asset Management, said that the US market is significantly overvalued, which has him looking at global assets -- especially in emerging markets -- and trimming his domestic holdings sharply. Rounding out the discussions -- and bringing additional focus to valuations -- Tim Koller, co-author of 'Valuation,' a business standard now out in its seventh edition, talks about how the pandemic has impacted the valuation of public and private companies.

Kristina Hooper, global macro strategist at Invesco, says we are seeing a global economic ping-pong game, where the information we are getting about coronavirus, health policies, economic news, monetary policy and more are bouncing around to create an outlook that is changing on an almost-daily basis. Still, she said that creates opportunities for investors who are patient and tactical through a slow, uneven recovery that won't be so much a v-shaped rebound but a 'Nike swoosh' shaped upturn. Also on the show, Ted Rossman discusses a Bankrate.com survey about whether investors and consumers are losing sleep to financial concerns during the coronavirus pandemic, Russel Kinnel, director of manager research at Morningstar talks mutual funds in the Market Call, and Chuck talks weird financial news, including the fines levied against an Austrian man charged with excessive, aggressive flatulence.

Tracie McMillion of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute discusses the firm's most-recent  investor-optimism survey, which saw seven years of gains and positive outlooks wiped out in the last calendar quarter. She discusses what happened and why investors are so much more pessimistic now despite the market's rebound from March lows. Also on the show, author Christian Busch discusses 'The Serendipity Mindset' and how to create good luck, Kyle Guske of New Constructs puts MongoDB in the Danger Zone, and Will Rhind of GraniteShares discusses stocks that he'd 'XOUT' of a portfolio in the Market Call.

Goerge Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors, says that in hard-to-gauge circumstances, gold is the one asset class that is performing in line with investor expectations, working appropriately to diversify portfolios and balance the volatile market. Neil Azous of Rareview Capital talks about a unique opportunity in municipal-bond closed-end funds, where the four return streams investors normally pursue are lined up to all potentially be working at the same time. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com makes a fund that's all about genomics and finding a coronoavirus cure his 'ETF of the Week,' and Chuck Carlson of Horizon Investment Services and The DRIP Investor talks stocks in the Market Call.

Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at Nuveen, discusses his firm's outlook for the remainder of 2020, while noting that there is little clarity in any outlook right now thanks largely to coronavirus, but also owing to the election, the economy and more. Nick also talks about how the falling rates story in bonds -- which is forcing investors to re-think the role of bonds in their portfolios -- will likely be the story of the coming decade, as investors deal with the fallout of 'lower for longer.' Also on the show, Gene Nadler discusses the simple strategy that's behind his book 'The Perfect Stock Market Diet,' and Jack Murphy of Levin Easterly Partners talks about value investing and value stocks in the Market Call.

Brad Lamensdorf of the Lamensdorf Market Timing Report and the Ranger Equity Bear fund (HDGE) says that the market's expectations are swinging between extremes -- from a high-greed environment to a high-fear market and back again -- and that investors should pay more attention to technical signals because there are so many unknowns happening to fundamentals for the foreseeable future. Lamensdorf believes in buying fear and selling greed and expects opportunities for both during volatile market swings ahead. Also on the show, Brian Kersmanc of GQG Partners notes that investors 'can't predict when it's going to rain, but can build arks,' and suggests getting defensive, diversifying across asset classes and countries and going 'where the data points lead you.' Plus Mark Hamrick of Bankrate.com discusses how Americans feel their personal financial standing is after three years of the Trump Administration, and David Brady of Brady Investment Counsel talks growth investing in the Market Call.

Michael Falk of Focus Consulting Group returns to the show for another intimate life and money discussion. Dealing with ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease, Falk explains why he doesn't think today's investors should be wasting time and money on bonds, noting that he won't buy any during the short time he has left but why younger, healthier people shouldn't buy them either. He also discusses how the pandemic and the advancing disease has, again, changed some of his priorities and his abilities to accomplish them. Also on the show, David Goodsell of the Natixis Investment Managers' Center for Investor Insight discusses his group's latest survey on investor attitudes, Mark Blyth discusses his new book, 'Angrynomics,' and the need for society to harness its anger to create change, and David Trainer talks about why a home-builder that the market thinks is headed for trouble is actually an attractive buy right now.  

Money manager Jim O'Shaughnessy -- the best-selling author of 'What Works on Wall Street' -- says that investors can look back through history to see that the United States has come through 'some really scary things.' which is why his outlook hasn't and won't change. He's expecting to ride out the current stock market and economic concerns, betting on the American people to 'figure stuff out.' Also on the show, Larry Antonatos of Brookfield Asset Management discusses real assets and which ones he expects to perform well heading into 2021, Jim Welsh of Smart Portfolios talks the market's technicals and expects a short-term pullback before the Standard and Poor's 500 index rebounds to new highs around Labor Day, and John Barr of the Needham Growth and Needham Aggressive Growth Funds talks stocks in the Market Call.

Crit Thomas, global market strategist at Touchstone Investments, says that the market has written off 2020 and is looking out to 2021, meaning that upcoming corporate guidance is likely to have more market impact than soon-to-be-released economic numbers. Thomas noted that the market's rebound -- which he warns could be affected sharply by coronavirus news concerning a resurgence of afflicted Americans -- has been so strong and fast that it has brought most of the market to unattractive pricing levels. While Thomas is worried about the potential for short-term market troubles, he suggests that investors lengthen their time horizon because the long lens makes it much easier to keep risk and daily market volatility in proper perspective. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com suggests an exchange-traded fund made up of 'fallen knives,' Ted Rossman of CreditCards.com discusses travel-credit cards and whether they are worth their fees at a time when few cardholders are traveling, and Jerry Parker of Chesape

In an extended Big Interview, Dan Fuss -- vice chairman of Loomis Sayles and Co., and a leading bond fund manager for more than half a century -- says that investors should not feel that bonds can play their traditional role as a portfolio safety net right now because fixed-income investments can't provide the level of yield investors typically expect. Fuss says the market 'is far more dangerous on the credit side than people know.' Also on the show, Catherine Yoshimoto of FTSE Russell discusses the 'Russell Reconstitution' process, which will reshape Russell's indexes while making this Friday one of the biggest volume days of the year, and Charles Norton of the Vitium Global Fund discusses sin stocks -- alcohol, gaming, tobacco and defense companies -- in the Market Call. 

Mark Newton of Newton Advisors says that while markets are poised to move higher into July, they face a challenging path to continue rising as the economy reopens. Newton favors health care stocks and commodities, but dislikes financials. Also on the show, Alessandro Valentini of Causeway Capital Management discusses what it will take for value investing to finally deliver superior results to growth stocks. Warning, he said it could take a long time, noting that low interest rates make it more difficult for value to get any traction. Greg McBride of Bankrate.com discusses the financial regrets many people have about their financial preparedness for the global pandemic, and Tom Plumb of the Plumb Funds talks stock in the Market Call.  

Stephanie Kelton, an economist whose recent book 'The Deficit Myth' has moved onto the best-seller lists, says that the many real problems facing the country -- including but not limited to the coronavirus pandemic, the loss of jobs and health care and benefits for many workers, and more -- can be solved or helped by the government increasing targeted spending, but she notes that concerns about such spending creating a bigger deficit problem are overblown. The deficit, she notes, is a number without 'good' or 'bad' attached. Also on the show, Jonathan Treussard of Research Affiliates talks about the challenges of and benefits to keeping a long-term investment mindset, Megan Fielding of Nuveen talks about how the surge in interest in social investing is being driven by improved performance in ESG funds, and David Trainer of New Constructs looks at a stock that he thinks is dramatically undervalued now.

David Jilek, chief investment strategist at Gateway Investment Advisers, says that high valuations and disrupted earnings make the market now riskier than it was before the global pandemic, and while that won't necessarily create a crash it will make the indexes more susceptible to volatility spikes and large impacts from small disruptions. With trade tensions, oil-pricing wars, the election and a slew of economic numbers all ahead in the news feed, he warns that the market could be uncomfortable for the foreseeable future. Also on the show, D.R.Barton Jr.. of Straight-Up Profits says technical analysis suggests that the market's rebound may have been too much, too soon and that he'd be surprised if there wasn't a major drawdown before the year ends, Zach Forman of Griffin Capital Securities talks interval funds and how illiquidity is actually seen as a plus in current market conditions, and Chris Armbruster of Kayne Anderson Rudnick talks mid-cap stocks in the Market Call. 

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, says that the stock market is getting 'a BTE bounce' -- better than expected -- but that it's not following its usual seasonal patterns which tend to show weakness in the summertime. Stovall says that the market is rotating the way he'd expect from a downturn like the one experienced in March, but that the 'bizarro' market is trading in reverse of what he'd expect both in terms of the industries and sectors that are in favor and the timing within the year. Still, Stovall says that investors and economists are acting like they expect a V-shaped recovery and he thinks they likely are right, for now. In another Big Interview today, Michael Mullaney of Boston Partners also is optimistic about the market, for now, though he notes that the market has been reacting to virus news and has been taking the rest of the news -- including the potential election results -- lightly for now. Also on the show, Tom Lydon makes a gambling and Internet gaming fund his 'ET

Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, says that he expects the Standard and Poor's 500 to be between 3,400 and 3,600 by the end of 2021, meaning that the market will be volatile without a lot of upside as it heads back toward a fully functioning economy. Wren noted that economic data has been better than expected, which has helped the market and investors avoid the worst of worst-case outcomes. Also on the show, author Scott McLean discusses the importance of getting your personal team of financial advisers to work together and the cost of having planners, tax preparers and others who are not on the same page, and Patrick Healey of Caliber Financial Partners discusses the barbell investment strategy he uses for stock portfolios in the Market Call.

Adam Grimes, president of Talon Advisors, says that rapid snap-back after the stock market's big March swoon was the 'least-expected outcome' from a sharp decline, and is symbolic of just how hard it is to make accurate technical forecasts right now. Grimes says the Federal Reserve's clear intention 'to do whatever it talks as long as it takes' has created significant market distortions, leaving more unknowns at this point, which should have investors on edge. Also on the show, Wayne Wicker, chief investment officer at VantagePoint Investment Advisors gave his outlook for the market, Vivian Tsai of the College Saving Foundation covers her organization's survey on how students see college plans and careers changing in the wake of the global pandemic, and Nick Raich of The Earnings Scout talks earnings trends and stocks in the Market Call.

Long-time Wall Street observer Charles Biderman says that the current market is showing signs of craziness that should scare investors, with companies seeing revenue declines that might bankrupt a business in ordinary conditions but that Wall Street investors are bidding up now. He urges caution and suggests a heavy dose of research for anyone wading into the market now, because the market seems to be inflating a bubble while ignoring that these are bubbly conditions. Also on the show, David Goodsell of the Natixis Investment Managers' Center for Investor Insight on their latest poll of institutional investors, David Trainer of New Constructs covers an attractive stock rather than heading for trouble in the Danger Zone, and Justin Carbonneau, partner at Validea.com talks gurus and the value behind their strategies in the Market Call.