Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

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.

Veteran technical analyst Martin Pring of Pring Research is "very optimistic over the next 12 months" because the stock market's bounce since October "looks like the beginning of a bull market," with expanding breadth and economic indicators turning up to where indicators are bullish for stocks and bonds now. Pring makes an educated guess that the market could run up to 5,400 on the Standard & Poor's 500, but notes that if the indicators change -- which he would expect after the election next fall -- the bull market could end quickly. In The Big Interview, Alex McGrath, chief investment officer at NorthEnd Private Wealth, says that while the market has been rebounding, it hasn't ecaped concerns about a recession and about the future financial health of the consumer, so he's rotating into defensive positions and looking to be opportunistic in 2024. Also on the show, Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst for S&P Dow Jones Indices discusses how companies got more cautious late in 2023 about committin

Wei Li, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock, makes it clear that she doesn't feel her firm's outlook for 2024 is "optimistic." Amid significant macroeconomic risks, Li says there are selective opportunities for investors who are willing to take the chance to put money to work, particularly in parts of the market that remain reasonable values -- notably artificial intelligence and big tenchology, which she expects to continue their strong performance from 2023 -- while avoiding parts of the market that are "priced for perfection" after the market's rally late in 2023. Also on the show, David Trainer at New Constructs puts Carvana back in "The Danger Zone," noting that the company remains a "zombie stock" -- one he expects could go to zero -- despite a strong bounceback in performance in 2023. In the Market Call, Simon Lack, managing partner at SL Advisors -- which oversees the American Energy Independence Index -- talks energy stocks, particularly midstream energy infrastructure stocks and the cha

Veteran Wall Street observer Bob Doll, chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments, has been making 10 forecasts for the New Year for decades, but 2023 was one of the most difficult times he has ever had reading the tea leaves for the market and economy. He explains why as he looks back at his forecasts from a year ago and reviews what he got right and wrong and how conditions have changed; he will return to the show next week with his forecasts and predictions for 2024. Meanwhile, John Cole Scott, president of Closed-End Fund Advisors, is looking forward, doing his annual forecast for the year ahead in closed-end funds, highlighted by his expectation that closed-end funds to outperform the general equity markets,In the Market Call, Raymond Bridges of the Bridges Capital Tactical ETF talks about being "aggressively cautious" in today's market conditions.

Rob Arnott, chairman and chief executive officer at Research Affiliates sees a recession as likely for late 2024, but expects the entire year to be dominated by domestic and geopolitics that create significant "left tail risk," the most extreme potential downside performance. It will be, he says, "a year of living dangerously," but he views current conditions "as a wonderful opportunity" to lean into value investing strategies. Also on the show, Tom Lydon, vice chairman at VettaFi makes a call on currencies and Japan with his ETF of the Week, and Mark Yusko, chief investment officer at Morgan Creek Capital Management, talks about ETF investment strategies in the Market Call.

John Barr, portfolio manager for the Needham Growth and Needham Aggressive Growth funds, says that despite the market's recent rally, there are plenty of smaller growth companies that represent good values with strong growth companies, though he also suggests that some of the large companies -- particularly in economy-driving industries like artificial intelligence and data storage -- have room to run too, which is why he's "not worried" about what the market will dish up this year. Also on the show, Manny Weintraub, principal at Cannell & Spears, discusses "super great stocks that are not going to kill you" in the Market Call, and Chuck reveals the 2023 results for his long-running "change experiment," where he saves everything under a $10 bill that comes his way in cash.

Bob Fraser, co-founder and chief financial officer at Aspen Funds, says the market has gotten excited and ahead of itself, so that it could spend the early part of the year mostly at a standstill, but he also doesn't see much downside risk, with neither a recession nor a crash in the offing.  Ultimately, Fraser thinks the market will end the year up, though not as much as it gained in the year we just completed. Also on the show, subscription expert Robbie Kellman Baxter talks about how companies take steps to get consumers hooked and to make it hard for them to wriggle off of the regular payment cycle, and she offers tips for protecting yourself from subscription overload, plus Chuck makes his market and economic forecasts for the year ahead.

Long-time technical analyst Gene Peroni of Peroni Portfolio Advisors and Advisors Asset Management says that -- while many people look at the market's returns in January and expect them to dictate the year -- he believes the current rally is setting the stage for 2024, showing the market's resilience. He is re-setting support levels to the market's July summer highs, and he thinks that it will keep bouncing back, making the market outlook for the year ahead pretty solid. Also on the show, John Cole Scott, president of Closed-End Fund Advisors,  looks back at how the closed-end fund industry bounced back from the challenges of a terrible year in 2022, and how his forecasts from a year ago -- including his five funds for 2023 -- have played out. Plus, Chuck goes over his financial to-do list for the new year, 15 items that all savers, consumers and investors could take on to gain better control of their finances and to make more of their money.

Veteran money-manager Louis Navellier, president of Navellier & Associates, says he hasn't seen "a real blow-out year since '99; I think we're overdue for one of those kind of years." He says that the market currently is grossly undervalued relative to interest rates and he says that small cap stocks could go up "100 percent or more," but he is also calling for a strong year for big stocks, oil and energy companies and he says the Magnificent Seven stocks are likely to keep rolling. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of VettaFi turns to small-cap -- but a specialized small-company fund that focuses on dividend payers while trying to mute volatility -- as his ETF of the Week, and James Royal discusses a recent Bankrate.com survey showing that more than half of Americans sought out financial advice in 2023, though they didn't all turn to good sources to get it.

Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco, says there will be some damage to the economy -- worse than a soft landing -- but she thinks the economy can put off recession until at least 2025. Hooper says the new year should be an improving year for consumers with real wage growth rising as the disinflationary process continues; she thinks that improvement will cause an increase in spending, with the trigger being interest-rate cuts which she expects to start in the second quarter. Also on the show, Dan Griffith, director of wealth strategy at Huntington Private Bank, taks about the "tax sunset" and how investors and consumers want to start thinking now about rules that are changing at the end of 2024, because there will be a segment of the population -- particularly the wealthy -- who will pay a penalty if they are caught unaware of how rules will revert to past standards barring action from Congress. Plus Chuck talks about the systems he has used for setting annual goals and how it is better

Mary Ellen Stanek, co-chief investment officer at Baird Advisors -- a firm known best for bond investing -- says the Federal Reserve has delivered better than expected results, and while there is plenty of expectation of a reasonably soft landing, buckle up and protect your portfolio because volatility won't be going away even as the economy and the market revert to their long-term historical trends for key indicators like growth, inflation and more. With just days left on the 2023 calendar, Kelly Lannan discusses Fidelity's annual resolution survey, which shows that struggles with inflation have more people looking at setting financial goals this year, although many may have lowered their sights in picking targets for the year ahead. Plus, hedge-fund manager Lukasz Tomicki of LRT Capital Management talks stocks in the Market Call.

Avi Gilburt, founder of the Elliott Wave Trader, expects the stock market to reach new highs, but thinks the current rally will carry to those record levels by no later than the second quarter of 2024, after which he says "a bear market is going to be in our future." Additionally, he says there will be a banking crisis that is part of the bear market, notig that systemic issues with the banking system will create trouble that "will likely be worse than what we saw in 2008," when troubles in the financials sector were cornerstone to the Great Financial Crisis. Brenda Langenfeld, portfolio manager for Nuveen, says that banking environment will actually create opportunities for investors in preferred securities, noting that heightened banking regulatory oversight will be favorable for credit investors, that positive fundamentals suggest stability and growth and that valuations are at levels "that present a capital appreciation opportunity over the next year." Also on the show: Charles Rotblut discusses the lates

Legendary bond fund manager Dan Fuss -- the vice chairman at Loomis Sayles & Co. -- says that while the Federal Reserve was "caught and delayed" in responding to inflation, he gives them "a whole lot of credit" for pulling the economy out of the doldrums while avoiding a crash, noting that this central bank's performance is among the most impressive for any central bank he has watched in his 60-plus year career. Fuss says the market is "fund, it is one of the most impressive accomplishments he has seen from the central bankers. Fuss expects the yield curve the return to normal, but he says long rates will not come down as much as investors might expect. He remains positive on U.S. markets, though he says stocks look pricy and the bond market is fundamentally solid, albeit thinner than it has been due to higher rates, a situation he expects to change once the Fed begins cutting rates in 2024. Also on the show, Chuck answers a listener's question on the state of 60-40 portfolios today; it's a follow-up ques

Garry Evans, chief asset allocation strategist at BCA Research, expects a recession in 2024 but says that the Federal Reserve has eased conditions enough that it will happen later in the year and likely will be mild. Still, he says the risk is that inflation is not really dead, and what happens if it starts to re-ignite. As a result, he is hedging against inflation and while he would like to use gold to do it -- although he notes it is "a hedge against central banks turning too dovish," and not a hedge on gold -- he is suggesting that the high price of precious metals makes it that he favors TIPs [Treasury inflation-protected securities]. Catherine Collinson, president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies discusses recent research on the retirement outlook for women. The Center's latest report shows more than half of the 3,000 women surveyed feel they don't have enough income to save for retirement, and less than one in five are very confident that they will be able to fully retire with a comfor

Jon Wolfenbarger, founder and chief executive officer at BullAndBearProfits.com says he foresees a market downturn of 60 percent in the next year or two, and that it could be down 50 percent from current levels a decade from now. Wolfenbarger bases that forecast on valuation levels "that are the highest they have been in history, higher than they were in 1929" or at the peak of the tech bubble. Wolfenbarger says a recession is coming soon if it hasn't already started, and that economic conditions will deteriorate from here based on indicators that are showing that trouble is about to hit home. Also on the show, Jason Callan, portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments -- manager of the Columbia Strategic Income Fund -- says in the Big Interview that the economy still has some consequences to pay for the protracted inversion in the yield curve and how to position portfolios now that the Federal Reserve has indicated that it is likely to stop hiking rates but hasn't given more than mild ints about w

Doug Ramsey, chief investment officer for The Leuthold Group, says the stock market's recent rally most likely pushes the economic cycle out by a month or two, but he says that the amount of tightening that is already in place and the impacts of the inverted yield curve hitting the economy will finally come to roost in economic fallout that "down the road is going to be severe." Ramsey expects a recession in the first half of 2024, and has a lot of economic data that he suggests support that conclusion. Also on the show, David Trainer, founder/president of New Constructs, heads to "The Danger Zone" for one final time in 2023, noting that investors who think the market rally has removed all pressure from stocks are wrong. In The Market Call, Tom Hancock of GMO -- manager of the new GMO U.S. Quality ETF -- talks about what makes a quality stock and how to use those issues in a portfolio.

Bryan Cannon, chief portfolio strategist at Cannon Advisors, says we're in a secular bull market right now, but he notes that a secular bear -- usually not recognizable until it's in the rearview mirror -- could be close, because "you've never had inflation without a secular bear market." Cannon expects the current rally to continue into the new year, but he notes the charts and the trends could change along with the calendar, making it hard to read 2024. Also on the show, Sarah Foster discusses the latest Bankrate.com survey showing that some 60 percent of Americans say that their income has not kept pace with inflation. In The NAVigator segment, Adam Sparkman -- part of the team running the Thornburg Income Builder Opportunity Trust -- says "it's a different menu within fixed income entering 2024 than it was a couple of years ago," which has him increasing credit quality, taking less risk and lengthening maturity as we start seeing how potential rate cuts take shape.  Plus Daniel Kern, chief investment offi