Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

Julius de Kempenaer, senior technical analyst at StockCharts, says that the stock market is "crashing higher," having reached record levels with no signs of stopping but that doesn't mean he's buying now because he finds it over-stretched. De Kempenaer sees the market going through rotation right now, with money flowing from value into growth right now helping to push things higher. Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association returns to the show to discuss the January Beer Purchasers' Index, which showed that consumers have been responding to inflation by cutting back on the high-end beers and spending more on the below-premium drinks. Plus, insurance analyst Shannon Martin of Bankrate.com discusses the high and rising costs of auto insurance, and author Michael Graetz discusses his new book, "The Power to Destroy: How the Antitax Movement Hijacked America."

Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, says that while market valuations are high right now on a historic basis -- which might make investors cautious -- the sky-high prices for the Magnificent Seven stocks that have been leading the market to record levels have left room for the other stocks in the index to be particularly reasonable. That means the market's overall valuation is more reasonable than headlines suggest, and there is room to grow in other sectors. Likewise, economists are feeling like economic policies are working well enough to avoid big problems like recession this year --  according to the latest Policy Survey from the National Association for Business Economics, released today; Lester Jones of the NABE survey committee discusses how economists still have some worries about fiscal policies and how the Federal Reserve might mess things up. Plus David Trainer of New Constructs revisits a Danger Zone pick that has fallen dramatically but that he thinks will

Jeff Rosenkranz, fixed income portfolio manager at Shelton Capital Management, says that if the Federal Reserve waits too long to cut rates or if systemic problems resurface -- including potential troubles with bank safety --  the economy could be due for more trouble than most observers expect. Rosenkranz expects to see a significant increase in credit troubles and defaults, noting that the classic default cycle that accompanies rate hikes hasn't really occurred yet, but that it's unlikely to be avoided completely. One area that has struggled with the rate cycle has been municipal bond funds, and Jonathan Mondillo, head of North American fixed income for abrdn, says that has pushed muni closed-end funds to record discount levels, but that has created opportunities for attractive income levels and heightened total return for investors willing to swim against the tide. In the "Talking Technicals" segment, Alex Coffey, senior trading strategist at Charles Schwab, says that with the Standard & Poor's 500 on

Kathy Boyle, president of Chapin Hill Advisors, is worried that with 'all of Wall Street being bullish again," overblown earnings expectations, strong employment and the more getting the Federal Reserve to where it will wait longer before cutting rates, the stock market has gotten a bit overblown. As a result, she thinks there's a good chance of a short-term correction, potentially down to the 4,400 level on the Standard & Poor's 500, though she does think there's a good chance the market comes through that to finish the year on a positive note. Rick Gable, portfolio manager for the MFS Global Real Estate fund, takes stock in the real estate market, noting that while the entire business has made a lot of negative news, the sour stories mostly are impacting office space and the rest of the market is full of opportunities. Plus, Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, looks at a young fund with a great three-year track record that can be an actively managed addition to the passive portions of a portf

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.