Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

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Edward Jones' Mahajan: See the opportunity in price drops and volatility Oct 31, 2024

Show notes

Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones, says the stock market is likely to moderate, but investors should lean into any volatility or price declines as an opportunity to buy and build their portfolio. In a wide-ranging Big Interview, Mahajan — who sees a soft landing as the most likely economic outlook — gives her take on every asset class from the Magnificent Seven to small-cap stocks, from bonds and precious metals to alternative investments. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, makes the Van Eck Morningstar SMID Moat fund his ETF of the Week. In the Market Call, Jeffrey DeMaso, editor of The Independent Vanguard Adviser, discusses Vanguard funds and ETFs.

GammaRoad's Rizzuto: Market is nearing a key inflection point Oct 30, 2024

Show notes

Jordan Rizzuto, managing partner at GammaRoad Capital Partners, says his firm's models are finding two economic factors looking negative with just one — stock price direction — looking bullish, and when that happens it typically means the market is nearing "a major inflection point and a significant change in market conditions," though there is always a chance that it is simply a refreshing pause before the market resumes its climb. Either way, he does not expect the market to turn to where it has a long sideways move from here. Anthony Martin, chief executive officer at Choice Mutual, discusses the firm's survey which showed that 60% of Americans don't think they'll check everything off their bucket list, although what they are putting on the bucket list varies so widely that the survey may just be an indictment on the process of making a list. Plus, in the Market Call, Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services — editor at The DRIP Investor — uses the firm's Quadrix research system to evaluate stocks, and identifies one stock that he believes could be "the next Nvidia."

Asbury's Kosar is risk on, and watching for a tech break-through Oct 29, 2024

Show notes

John Kosar, chief market strategist at Asbury Research, says the stock market "doesn't know exactly what to do here," with the economy clicking but sector bets being hard to make because it's hard to know which areas to favor until the re4sults of the election are in. Still, Kosar is generally bullish, noting that he has been risk-on since early August and that he will feel even more strongly if technology stocks can push the Nasdaq through previous highs for several days, clearing the way for more upside from tech stocks. Then, we finish up coverage from FinCon '24, chatting with Marty Steffens, the SABEW Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the University of Missouri, about the tension between "journalism" and "content creation," and what it means for individual investors who are looking at those different work products. Plus, Bindu and Prahlad Pant — the parents of FinCon rock star Paula Pant of the Afford Anything Podcast — give their first-ever podcast interview, discussing how their daughter came up with her attitudes about money and spending, before Paula herself talks about money attitudes for consumers now.

On retiring 'often,' having fun with the market, and more, from FinCon '24 Oct 28, 2024

Show notes

Joseph Hogue of the YouTube channel "Let's Talk About Money with Joseph Hogue" says investors want to keep the bulk of their money in simple buy-and-hold strategies and shouldn't be swayed by wild recommendations coming from the blogging and podcasting community, but also says that they should scratch the itch of their fun side -- if they have one -- by taking controlled chances with the fun-money portion of their portfolio. Jillian Johnsrud, host of the "Retire Often" podcast, discusses why and how people should plan regular breaks and re-sets in their career. Shane Walker, chief executive officer at Qube Money, talks about how modern tools are helping consumers take control of their money in ways that, until recently, would not have been possible. Financial adviser Jim Blankenship — the blogger behind "Financial Ducks in a Row" — talks about why consumers and investors are feeling uncomfortable with the stock market in record-high territory. Ava Johns, affiliate marketing specialist at Turbotenant.com discusses how affiliate marketing is used by influencers and popular blogs and podcasts, and how consumers may want to pay attention to how those deals work. Plus Joe Saul-Sehy of the Stacking Benjamins podcast gives his impressions of how FinCon — and the world of bloggers, podcasters and content creators — has changed over the years.

Financial coaching, frugality, 'lunch money' and more from FinCon Oct 25, 2024

Show notes

FinCon '24 continues from Atlanta, and the conference has a heavy emphasis on financial coaching this year, which comes through in a few of today's conversations from the annual meeting of bloggers, podcasters, content creators, coaches and more. Chuck's guests include KeyAnder Early of How Money Works, who focuses on financial literacy and teaching young adults; Bill Yount, co-host of the "Catching Up to F.I." podcast, which helps people who start their journey to financial independence later in life; Jen Yip, founder of the Lunch Money app, a fintech start-up that provides budgeting services and financial management; Stacy Blackshear of Rewire Behavior Financial Coaching, which works with parents of kids with disabilities to give them financial control and hope; and Dr. Disha Spath, the founder of The Frugal Physician. Plus, in The NAVigator, portfolio manager Jonathan Browne of RiverNorth Capital Management discusses why muni-bond closed end funds are a particularly good value play right now.

Playing with FI/RE — and the 'fiery millennial' — at FinCon '24 Oct 24, 2024

Show notes

Gwen Merz Joiner, who runs the Fiery Millennials blog, says that living a radical financial life trying to amass a nestegg to quit working left her exhausted and unfulfilled, but as she loosens the purse strings today, she notes that she is in her 30s and has amassed a nest egg sufficient to get her through retirement without ever setting another dollar into her 401(k). She describes the ups and downs of FI/RE -- financial independence, retire early -- in an interview from FinCon 2024. In other interviews from the conference being held this week in Atlanta, Chuck chats with Doug Nordman of Military Financial Independence, Charly Stoever of the Unicorn Millionaire podcast, and Zach Whelchel of My Budget Coach. plus, making his regular Thursday appearance on the show, Todd Rosenbluth, the head of research at VettFi, makes Fidelity Corporate Bond fund his ETF of the Week.

State Street analyst says inflation wasn't bad enough for gold to work as a hedge Oct 23, 2024

Show notes

For all of the complaints consumers have about inflation, George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors says that the precious metal needs "sustained high inflation" — which he defines as at least two years with inflation above 5 percent — and those conditions were not met, so gold didn't respond to rising prices. Meanwhile, gold has been rolling because it is a good hedge against geo-political risk and Milling-Stanley expects that to continue, given global tensions now. Moreover, Milling-Stanley expects a soft landing for the economy, though he believes that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is determined to deliver "a period of below-trend growth" to return the economy to stable well-being, and that transition could feel rough for investors. Rob Williams, chief investment strategist at Sage Advisory Services, agrees that a soft landing is likely, though he expects that the market will face more turbulence and will fly at lower altitudes as the economy slows during the rate-cutting cycle the Fed recently started. Plus, Kristine Stevenson of Proverbs 1616 — the author of "How to Avoid Trouble With the IRS 10 Best Tax Tips for the Self-Employed, Gig Worker, and Indie Contractor" — answers a question from a listener who is hoping to resolve tax problems that have arisen during a health crisis, troubles that she doesn't want to leave her kids as an inheritance.

Natixis' Janasiewicz: As long as earnings march higher, the market will too Oct 22, 2024

Show notes

Jack Janasiewicz, Portfolio Strategist at Natixis Investment Managers, says the economy can keep supporting earnings growth, and as long as earnings are marching higher, it should pull the equity market up further. While warning that investors may have to adjust expectations after two big years that make an encore unlikely, Janasiewicz says that heightened volatility amid geopolitical tensions is more a wild-card or an unknown than a detonator for trouble. Moreover, he notes that if the global market takes a turn driven by war or political tensions, the U.S. will remain "the best house in a tough neighborhood." Tom Rossi discusses the latest results from Northwestern Mutual's annual "planning and progress study," which showed a significant gap between what Gen Z and Millennials expect to receive from their parents an inheritance and what their parents are actually planning to leave behind. Plus, Toni Turner, President of TrendStar Trading Group, says the technicals show that "We're still in a bull market," and while she is taking a little off the table to play defense against heightened volatility through the election and into the new year, she doesn't currently anticipate some deep decline even as the market digests some of its big gains from the last two years.

Morgan Stanley's Khanduja: 'It's not going to be your typical rate-cutting cycle' Oct 21, 2024

Show notes

Vishal Khanduja, Head of the Broad Markets Fixed Income team at Morgan Stanley, says with inflation trending downward, labor data will be what the Federal Reserve is most focused on, and as those numbers move the central bank may take a choppy path toward rate reductions. While that may keep the market on edge, Khanduja notes that corporate and consumer balance sheets are very strong right now — which is unusual at the start of a rate-cutting cycle — which combined with reduced inflation and low-but-stable growth should result in a soft landing. Chip Lupo discusses the early holiday shopping survey from WalletHub, which showed that 46% of Americans enter the 2024 holidays still paying off debt they rang up during the Christmas season last year. Investment analyst Kyle Guske of New Constructs puts PGIM Jennison Mid-Cap Growth in "The Danger Zone," saying it's an expensive way to own a bunch of bad stocks, and portfolio manager Bill Davis brings his brand of high-turnover ESG investing to the Money Life Market Call.

As rates start to fall, Hennessy's Ellison sees "sunny days ahead" for banks Oct 18, 2024

Show notes

David Ellison, Portfolio Manager and Financial Services Specialist at the Hennessy Funds, says that the banking industry is coming out of "a two-to five year period of darkness," heading for "sunny days ahead," though he notes that banks do not want interest rates to fall too far but he thinks earnings can grow even if the Federal Reserve cuts rates by another 1 percent or more. Ellison also notes that anticipated problems in commercial real estate — considered a real threat to the health of the banking system — aren't likely to materialize as a real threat now because the industry has spent the last two-plus years preparing for trouble. "It may be a drag here and there, but it won't be a blow-up problem," he says. Dana Staggs, President of Arrowmark Financial Corp., looks at a high-yielding alternative to standard banking plays, talking about how his closed-end fund relies on regulatory capital relief securities — esoteric investments that currently can generate yields of up to 15 percent — and that should hold up when rates get cut further in the coming year. Jason Brown of The Brown Report says that the stock market's technicals are showing him signs that a big downturn is in the offing, and Portfolio Manager Michael Roomberg of Miller/Howard Investments, talks energy stocks in the Market Call.

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