Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

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Bullseye Trades' Bishop: 'I think it's a dangerous time in the market here' Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

Long-time technical analyst Jeff Bishop, head of Bullseye Trades, says the stock market is "priced to perfection, perfection, perfection," and while he isn't saying stocks are overvalued, they are at least fairly valued, which means the stock market here has more downside risk than upside potential. As a result, Bishop says that while he is trying to wring the last of the momentum out of the market, he has been moving into short positions and expects to soon have "the largest short position of my life." Bishop says that the current market move has been parabolic, and while he doesn't think it will end in a catastrophic event, he says the red flags are flashing warning signs that signal a 5 to 10 percent pullback over the summer, potentially getting bigger towards the fall.

In the Market Call, Roger Conrad, chief analyst at Conrad's Utility Investor, talks about how concerns over energy markets and high demand for power have created big tailwinds for utility stocks, but that the gains haven't lifted valuations to where stocks are dramatically overpriced. Conrad — who also runs the Dividends Roundtable on Substack — talks about how his methodology allows for a "dream price' and a "profit-taking price" and says that he expects heightened volatility to have him making both moves fairly regularly for the rest of the year.

Steve Baffico, executive vice president and head of listed products at Bluerock — which runs the Bluerock Private Real Estate fund — says that investors will be moving out of direct lending and private credit funds in search of HALO investments ("hard assets, low obsolescence), which will bring them to private real estate, helping to drive the sector. Bluerock's fund recently converted from an interval fund to a closed-end fund — and has raised its distribution four times in recent months — and he believes it can will soon hit its target of 8 to 8.5%. He talks about how that kind of yield is being achieved, and the three sectors the fund is focused on.

Financial history shows that the American Dream is alive and achievable Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

Joseph S. Moore, author of "How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked (& Didn't)," says that America is dealing with "Big Woe" (as in "Woe is me"), but that examining the past makes it clear that "The American Dream is alive and well." Moore points out that what people think is unique today has all been played out in the past, comparing cryptocurrency to the thousands of self-issued currencies that existed before the start of the Civil War, prediction markets to the "bucket shops" of the 1800s and more, but he also notes that the advice that people think "always works" has not actually proven that if you look throughout financial history. "The dynamic, changing economy we live in is evolving," he says, "so hopefully we can learn something from the past to better understand where we are in the present."

Kelley Wright, editor at Investment Quality Trends — now celebrating its 60th year, making it one of the longest-running investment newsletters — brings his dividend-with-value focus to the Market Call.

Plus, in the ETF of the Week, Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, examines a unique Treasury-focused fund as a way to ride out current rate swings while goosing yields in the ultra-safe portion of your portfolio.

ICON's Callahan: Earnings and value are growing; prices are 'trying to keep up' Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

Craig Callahan, founder and chief executive officer, ICON Advisers — manager of the ICON Equity fund, which is up more than 25% year-to-date — says the market, even at record highs, is right around fair value, meaning he doesn't see over-pricing or investor behavior typical of market peaks. As a result, so long as earnings stay strong — and he describes current earnings as being at levels of "crazy, silly growth" — the market will climb the proverbial wall of worry higher, potentially for the next few years.

Mark Boulton, portfolio manager at Pictet Asset Management, says that the standard emerging-markets investment play — heavy on technology stocks and weighted to China, Korea and Taiwan — misses the point of true "emerging markets investing," which is to benefit from rising economies and countries that are seeing expansive GDP growth. Boulton, who runs the new Pictet Emerging Markets Rising Economies ETF, says Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and frontier markets like Vietnam and Kazakhstan have better growth prospects and are likely to outpace developed markets and deliver better long-term results moving forward.

Chip Lupo discusses the 2026 Household Debt Survey from WalletHub, which showed that more than half of Americans say their household is struggling with debt, and more than 2 in 5 expecting their household debt to increase in the next 12 months.a

LPL's Turnquist: Market's winning streak portends strong run to year's end Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, says it's "hard to argue" with a stock market that has returned to record high levels on the back of a 9-week winning streak for the Standard and Poor's 500. Turnquist says that kind of streak has only happened 10 times before, with the momentum leading the market higher a median return of 8 percent six months after the streak. Turnquist added a note of near-term caution, saying he will not be surprised to see some summer consolidation, particularly in the technology space, but he made it clear that he expects those temporary declines to be buying opportunities.

In The Big Interview, Ron Deutsch, head of portfolio strategy at Magnus Financial Group, discusses why investors who are scurrying for safety, wanting to reduce their fears are pursuing strategies that may come up short under the pressure of today's markets. He discusses how balancing risks may involve moving money to areas that safety-first investors think are high risk — but which the market has shown to be relatively safe — without going too far to the end of the spectrum.

Tiana Patillo, financial advisor manager at Vanguard, discusses a recent survey by the firm, which found that more than 70% of women say they are confident about saving money, yet nearly half of them acknowledged that their savings may not be keeping pace with inflation.

And speaking of inflation, Chuck answers a listener's question about whether his son's use of "buy now, pay later" programs at the gas pump makes any financial sense at all.

New Constructs' Guske on how SpaceX stock may implode upon launch Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

The big story in the week ahead is expected to be the IPO of SpaceX, and Kyle Guske, investment analyst at New Constructs, says this deal is ugly right from the jump, putting the new stock in The Danger Zone before it even goes public. Guske notes that SpaceX has no earnings , a negative economic book value, a share structure that leaves virtually all control with Elon Musk, and that nearly all money raised in the launch will go to pay off prior debts. When the IPO goes through, however, there will be "this massive valuation on a company that, right now, is unprofitable," and that will have to deliver huge amounts of future growth to justify the expected market price.

Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses SpaceX too, noting it is part of a broader IPO wave that is less about great investment opportunities and more about venture capitalists cashing out while the getting is good. In "The Week That Is," Marolia also looks at Americans' growing credit-card debt load which — unlike the soft, emotional data of consumer sentiment — shows how consumers are struggling with inflation and explains how that struggle could be the thing that trips up the economy if consumers wake up and cut spending.

In The Big Interview, Dominic Ceci, chief investment officer at Johnson Financial Group says that the economic growth story has "captured the hearts and minds" of investors, allowing them to keep climbing the wall of worry to get the stock market back to record highs. He says that growth picture could be changing, as artificial intelligence gets to a "prove it" phase, inflation stays higher for longer, and the impacts of War in Iran move from the potential problem of the fighting's first few days to the undeniable impacts seen only as the conflict moves past the 90-day mark.

Wells Fargo's Cronk: Raising rates in an oil shock 'is a categorical mistake' May 29, 2026

Show notes

Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management, says he expects inflation will top 4% during the summer, which will put pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates, but that could dramatically increase the potential for recession because rate hikes and oil-driven inflation stocks, historically, have been a recipe for trouble. Cronk, who also serves as president of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, says that virtually all economic and market outlooks hinge on questions around reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but his outlook remains positive, noting that markets have nearly eclipsed in five months Wells Fargo's forecast for the year, with solid earnings poised to drive things higher from here. In spite of the economic concerns, Cromk is optimistic that it will be "a good year when we put 2026 in the history books."

Jim Lee, founder of StratFi, says the technicals show a market that is somewhat overbought, making it due for a minor pullback of about 5 percent "in the next month or so," but says he would buy the dips because the market has the potential to deliver 20 percent gains when 2026 is done. Lee notes that he particularly likes the "HALO stocks," "heavy asset, low obsolescence" plays that tend to be old-economy dividend-payers, which have done well in 2026 and have momentum that he expects to continue, even if it takes longer than expected to resolve the war in Iran.

Plus, Gordon Hamilton, senior managing director for Kayne Anderson — portfolio manager for the Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure closed-end fund — says 'historic' oil drawdowns are setting up a major call once a peace deal is done for U.S. energy infrastructure companies to meet global demand for propane, butane, crude oil and natural gas. Coupled with an energy "supercycle" driven by artificial-intelligence needs, it has created what should be a persistent long-term opportunity for infrastructure investors.

Resource investor Rozencwajg: Today's oil 'shock' is tomorrow's building catastrophe May 28, 2026

Show notes

Adam Rozencwajg, managing partner at Goehring & Rozencwajg — a firm that focuses on natural resource investing — says that the war in Iran has already created "the most severe shock to energy markets in history," which he says is three times more severe in terms of barrels produced than anything seen in the 1970s, and that the situation will get markedly worse from here. Rozencwajg says that it takes about 90 days from oil to make it from the well to the consumer; it's now been about 80 days since the wells were shut off because oil couldn't be shipped, which means "We should begin to feel the physical crunch in about 10 days time." He says inventory levels have dropped precipitously, could evaporate if tensions continue and that could lead to oil priced at $150 to $200 per barrel for months, and even after the Strait or Hormuz reopens; while he thinks the economy can avoid recession in those conditions, he acknowledges it would dramatically raise recession risk.

Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, takies a very different take on energy and power markets, picking a classic utilities sector fund as his "ETF of the Week."

Allison Hadley discusses a study done for American Home Shield, which showed that homeowners spent an average of $3,737 on repairs in 2025, but that nearly one in five of those homeowners had to take on debt to pay for those fixes. Moreover, the survey found that 57% of the homeowners who made repairs were blindsided, meaning the cost came out of nowhere.

Plus, Chuck answers a listener's question about indexed universal life insurance policies, a popular product among social media influencers that sounds too good to be true, and that probably is for most consumers.

Investors haven't 'planned for enough,' particularly with inflation May 27, 2026

Show notes

Long-time personal-finance commentator Paul Merriman, founder of the Merriman Financial Education Foundation says that investors haven't taken inflation into consideration the way they have investment returns, and that has the potential to leave them "at risk of being disappointed." Merriman says that investors should "Take 2 percent off of the return for the purposes of thinking about the future, and add 2 percent to what you are thinking in terms of inflation and that would be a more realistic view of the future."

Deana Healy, vice president of financial planning and advice at Ameriprise Financial discusses the firm's recent survey report, "Flying Solo: Navigating Financial Autonomy," which found that 85 percent of financially solo adults feel confident managing their money, but the same number worry about aging alone and navigating the long-term financial decisions that come with it.

Plus Chuck answers two questions from listeners, one about whether people are hiding their spending and their financial health in order to fit in with friends and neighbors — possibly explaining the disconnect between sentiment numbers and spending statistics — and the other from an investors whose portfolio has remain unchanged for decades, and whether staying put with it continues to make sense.

AAII's Rotblut on the potential meaning of 'vanishing optimism' May 26, 2026

Show notes

Charles Rotblut, vice president for the American Association of Individual Investors — overseer of the AAII Sentiment Survey — discusses the dramatic drop in bullish sentiment last week and how the big spread between bullish and bearish investors increased so dramatically that it teeters on the edge of becoming a contrary indicator. The sentiment survey has a history of showing that when emotions swing too far in one direction, the market responds by moving in the opposite direction. Still, Rotblut notes that bearish sentiment is "unusually high" and has been above its historical averages for 15 consecutive weeks.

Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, looks at the wild swings in bond-market sentiment and expectations, whether consumers will keep spending in the face of flagging sentiment and higher costs and introduces us to his alter ego, "Captain Inflation," whose superhero sidekick could be Kevin "The Hawk" Warsh, the new Federal Reserve chairman who will get his first shot at addressing inflation on Thursday.

Plus, Tom Bernard discusses his new book, "The Index of America: How the S&P500 Works and Why You Should Invest In It," and how the leading market indicator will keep up and remain the flagship benchmark for long-term investors. He addresses issues like concentration, diversification, globalization and more.

Voya's Stein: Rates are rising now so they can fall again soon May 22, 2026

Show notes

Eric Stein, chief investment officer at Voya Investment Management, says that investors can expect interest rates — particularly on longer-term bonds — will keep rising, but those higher reates "will lead to lower rates because you will see a response on the demand side whether it's through the consumer or through the [capital expenditures] cycle." Stein says that if "demand destruction" doesn't slow the economy too much, recession remains avoidable, particularly in the muted economic cycles that the U.S. has been going through in recent years.

In The NAVigator segment, Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates, also says that rates will be coming down, with his estimation being that it happens by the fall because "the worst is over as far as yields going up." Doty says that if oil prices stay below $110 per barrel, it's viewed as inflationary; above that level, "We have a problem, and so does the rest of the world." He says central banks will solve that problem by cutting rates to "save economies from disaster," and likes two-year TIPS, municipal bonds and high-yield corporate bonds to ride out the storm.

Plus, Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst and Washington bureau chief at BankRate.com — who recently launched The Hamrick Brief on Substack to give his take on current financial events — discusses mortgage rates and inflation both reaching recent highs, the historical context of those numbers and how, why and when conditions may ease and change.

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