Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Kevin Mahn, president and chief investment officer at Hennion & Walsh says that investors have been getting ahead of themselves and the Federal Reserve -- wildly anticipating the possibilities -- and should instead wait for the Fed to taper its bond purchases, raise rates twice and start shrinking its balance sheet. 'Then,' Mahn says, 'we can get a good assessment if inflationary pressures are starting to subside and if the economy is continuing to grow.' Mahn expects the economy and the stock market to be in 'still growing but slowing' mode for 2022, even as rate hikes and inflation play out. Also on the show, Noland Langford of Left Brain Investment Research suggests that investors looking for improved returns during the current rate-hike cycle consider corporate high-yield bonds and tax-free municipal bonds as unlikely but interesting alternatives for generating growth. And in the Market Call, Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities -- manager of the Wedbush ETFMG Global Cloud Technology ETF -- talks cloud and other technology stocks

Paul Espinosa, lead manager at Seafarer Overseas Value, says that many central banks have been raising rates ahead of the Federal Reserve -- which is not the usual case -- and while those rate increases have led to some stock market struggles, the support for the currency creates more investment security and opportunity for long-term investors. He says investors will need to be patient and picky, noting that emerging markets may struggle but will still offer up plenty of winners for good stockpickers. Also on the show: Ted Rossman of Bankrate.com discusses the troubles that half of Americans have experienced with membership services and recurring charges on credit cards -- and how to avoid falling into the same trap -- we revisit a recent question Chuck answered on the various methods for paying off credit-card debt, and Nathan Rex of Eigenvector Capital talks value investing in the Market Call.

Jeff Schulze, investment strategist at ClearBridge Investments, says that while headlines have focused on economic risks and the tightening moves of the Federal Reserve, the firm's analysis of recession risk shows that most economic factors are still favorable, suggesting that there will be expansion -- accompanied by stock market gains -- over the course of 2023, with the prospect of a true economic downturn occurring next year at the earliest. In the Danger Zone, David Trainer of New Constructs talks about how a huge percentage of companies in the Standard and Poor's 500 are overstating earnings for reasons that are only uncovered by digging into the footnotes; he singles out Amazon.com, Ford Motor Co. and Block and explains why things could get ugly when the market figures out the problem. Also on the show, Barry Metzger of Charles Schwab talks about the firm's latest survey of traders and how they are likely to respond to the market's sluggish start to the year and, in the Market Call, Maury Fertig of Relative Value Partners discusses how closed-end funds have been performing during the heightened volatility that has started the year.

Chris Maxey, senior vice president for investments at Wealthspire, says that investors --especially those close to retirement -- should be anxious for interest rates to re-set higher so that they can lock in better return stream, even though they will suffer through volatility while the bond market goes through the transition. Maxey also noted that investors should expect January's rough stretch of volatility to be repeated several times throughout 2022, making this a good time to rebalance a portfolio to stay on target through the back-and-forth. In 'The NAVigator' segment, Mike Taggart of Taggart Fund Intelligence -- the recently appointed executive director of the Active Investment Company Alliance -- talks about how investors should expect closed-end funds to perform in rising-rate cycles and whether investors should bank on senior-loan funds while rates are going up. And in the Market Call, Chris Krumenacker, senior equity research analyst at Bryn Mawr Trust, talks about where he is finding buys amid changing market conditions, how he maintains his 'watch list' and more.

Leah Bennett, president at Westwood Wealth Management, says that the time when investors could buy pretty much anything and make money has changed, which is going to force investors to look for sustainable cash flows and solid balance sheets, while also maintaining proper diversification to guard against market surprises because 'any major downturn we have gone through has been lead by a sector being overvalued.' Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com makes an international fund that hedges away the currency risk -- and that has strongly benefitted early this year as a result -- his pick for 'ETF of the Week,' and we revisit a recent interview with Rob Arnott, founding chairman of Research Affiliates

Marko Papic, chief strategist at Clocktower Group, says that he expects the market to bounce around through the end of the first quarter with January's setback mostly over at this point. Still, in a wide-ranging interview during which he compared cryptocurrency to rock-and-roll music, he noted that he's not buying into the dip because he foresees real sluggishness while the market waits to see not just what the Federal Reserve will do but the amplitude of the central bank's moves. Until that gets sorted out, Papic noted that he is struggling to be bullish on domestic markets. Also on the show, Anuj Nayar discusses a Lending Club study which showed an alarmingly high number of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck, with a surprisingly high number of the people struggling actually earning six-figure salaries; in the Market Call, Will Rhind of GraniteShares discusses the 'XOUT' methodology that effectively looks at reasons to weed out stocks poised for future sluggishness, slowdowns and declines, while hanging on the companies with real growth potential.

Adam Grimes, president of Talon Advisors, says that the longer the market goes sideways without any real downturn, the more the long-term probabilities favor a rebound, but Grimes noted that any potential serious weakness will be here late in the first quarter or by the second. That said, he is watching the current weakness in cryptocurrencies and how crypto has been leading the equity markets; if crypto troubles continue or grow, therefore, he could see more potential for downturn going forward, and could create an environment with significant selling pressure that investors will want to sit out. Also on the show, Chuck talks banks and financial-services stocks with David Ellison of the Hennessy Large-Cap and Small-Cap Financial Funds, discussed how investors should be adjusting portfolios for inflation with Tom Siomades, chief investment officer at AE Wealth Management, and covers how Americans' financial priorities have been changing during the pandemic with Mitch Kime of Key Bank.

Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist for Edward Jones, says that while he expects heightened volatility for the year ahead, he's not expecting something worse like a recession or a market crash. No matter the conditions, however, he says that investors should be watching to see if the Federal Reserve can avoid a policy mistake, noting that 'Investors should not fear the first hike, but should fear the last one,' noting that the economy should absorb the first moves easily but any potential problems will come later. Also on the show, Matthew Rados of Gametime.co talks Super Bowl ticket prices, why they are setting records this year and the best time to buy them if you are hoping for a 'bargain,' David Trainer of New Constructs puts a popular name in the hot pet-care industry into 'The Danger Zone,' saying the business is the second coming of Pets.com, a high-flyer of the Internet Bubble days that wound up worthless, and Charlie Bobrinskoy, vice chairman at Ariel Investments, talks 'Warren Buffett value-style investing' in the Market Call.

Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at Nuveen, says investors are facing modest earnings and economic growth need to make their expectations for 2022 modest as well; he notes that despite the bad start to the year on the market, he expects things to get better from here and for the market to finish the year in positive territory, just with gains that reflect that moderate outlook instead of mirroring the big results of 2021. Also on the show, Rob Shaker, of Shaker Financial, says that the market's January swoon -- which widened the discounts on closed-end funds -- took investors to the point in the discount cycle where the bargains are biggest and it's time to buy, and Matt King, president of King Wealth Advisors, talks about mixing value and momentum factors to find the right mutual funds and ETFs to buy now.

James Hickey, managing director of alternative strategies at Spearhead Capital, discusses investment opportunities to boost yields outside of traditional stocks and bonds, and discusses how important those choices are now in light of higher inflation that he says is permanent and that has him highly negative on traditional fixed-income investments for the foreseeable future. Also on the show, Tom Lydon, chief executive officer at ETFTrends.com, makes a fund that donates all management fees to a charity his pick as 'ETF of the Week,' and in the Market Call, Brian Frank of the Frank Value Fund talks absolute value investing and how the markets recent troubles have presented him with the chance to get fully invested again and at reasonable prices.