Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Technical analyst Adam Grimes, president of Talon Advisors, says that he is generally bullish about the market right now, and that it 'would take a lot' to make him move to the short side and bet against the market. Instead, he anticipates a strong market move to the upside and says investors should be moving money aggressively to take advantage of buying opportunities. Also on the show, Mike Taggart of Taggart Fund Intelligence discusses the current state of closed-end fund consolidations and how two ongoing deals aren't particularly good for shareholders, and yet those individual owners have mostly allowed the deals to continue. And in the Market Call, Sandy Villere III of the Villere Funds talks about how he is maintaining balance -- and holding a little more cash than normal -- given current market conditions.

Zvi Schreiber, author of 'Money, Going Out of Style: The story of money and the mystery of its demise,' says that people are getting more money than ever but aren't moving it along and pushing it through the economy, opting instead to use money in speculative ways through investing, cryptocurrency and more, all of which has the potential to be economically destabilizing. He explains how dubious uses of money aren't providing economic value. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com makes a dividend-oriented issue that converted from a traditional fund into an exchange-traded fund his 'ETF of the Week,' Chuck explains what a dead-cat bounce is, and Pouya David Yadegar, founder of Prime Opportunities Investment Group talks stocks in the Market Call.

Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network, says that bank stocks -- mostly out of favor since the financial crisis of 2008 and hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic -- are showing signs that their strong recent recovery has legs despite the threats posed by potential hikes in inflation and interest rates. Gaggar notes that since the market bottomed in March 2020, banks have outperformed the Standard and Poor's 500 by over 25 percent, adding that the risk controls put in place during the pandemic should pay off now as balance sheets across the industry have improved. Also on the show, Catherine Collinson of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies discusses how the pandemic has affected workers' savings and habits, Chuck takes a question about managing required minimum distributions from an IRA, and Peter Tuz, chief executive officer at Chase Investment Counsel, says in the Market Call that while he sees the potential for choppy/down markets for the rest of the year, there's still no place he'd rather put his money.

Giorgio Caputo, senior fund manager at J.O. Hambro Capital Management, says that investors aren't being paid enough for duration or credit risk in their bond holdings, which is why the firm is leaning more toward equities to generate income and protect against the possibility of rising rates. Caputo says the equity allocation needs both companies that play defense against the current economic cycle, the potential for inflation and the spectre of rising rates. In the first interview today, Kerry Pechter, editor and publisher of Retirement Income Journal, discusses a crisis he sees brewing in the life insurance and annuity industry based on the 'Bermuda Triangle Strategy' being used by some companies to shift/reduce risk while goosing returns and/or buying back shares. Andf in the 'Book Interview,' venture capitalist Steven Hoffman talks about 'The Five Forces That Change Everything.'

David Trainer, president and founder of New Constructs, put Pinterest and Zendesk back in the 'Danger Zone,' noting that recent earnings misses for the companies could be what triggers the decline he has been expecting. Trainer says Pinterest has a downside of more than 50 percent, and that Zendesk is even worse at over 80 percent, though he notes the companies have survived previous troubles to remain at lofty valuations. Also on the show, Ram Subramanian of Discover discusses a survey showing how the pandemic made Americans realize how badly they are undersaved, Angel Williams, author of 'Finding Your Treasure,' talks about how to turn garbage into profits, and we rebroadcast a recent interview with Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

Rick Schmidt, portfolio manager for Harding Loevner, says that investors may have a lot of macro worries -- from rising inflation and interest rates to coronavirus, the economy and more -- but he describes the big picture as being like the weather: 'We don't think we can predict it beyond a couple of days, but it's not silly to look out the window before you go outside. If it's raining, put up an umbrella ... But I'm not going to predict what's going to happen a week from now and try to invest on it.' Schmidt says that if you look beyond the headlines, there are plenty of promising investments with solid fundamentals available at reasonable prices. Also on the show, energy fund manager Brian Kessens of Tortoise Ecofin discusses the sharp rebound and future prospects for the energy space, Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for BankRate.com, discusses the unemployment/jobs picture and its bigger meaning for the rest of the year, and Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research for CFRA, talks exchange-traded funds in the Market Call.

Markus Schomer, chief economist at Pinebridge Investments, says in the Big Interview that worries over rising inflation and interest rates are significantly overblown, noting that the shortages behind price hikes should mostly be resolved by the year's end, and adding that there are no rate hikes in the Federal Reserves 'foreseeable future,' because the central bankers can't achieve their jobs/employment targets in a rising rate environment. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com highlights a new exchange-traded fund that is a pure play on companies mining and developing uses for cryptocurrencies, and Andy Braun of the Pax Large Cap fund talks stocks in the Market Call.

Ed Carson, news editor at Investor's Business Daily, says the latest IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index -- which overall was down again in the facing of concerns about rising inflation -- highlights the difference between investors and non-investors. He noted that the confidence measure showed a record 'optimism gap,' a difference of more than 15 percentage points between the number of positive investors compared to non-investors. Investors haven't just seen their stocks rise, but held more stable jobs and are pleased with the recovery, Carson said, while non-investors remain fearful. Also on the show, Brian Dress of Left Brain Investment Research highlights Crocs, a retail stock he might have ignored if not for the quantitative analysis discipline in the firm's process, author Katrina Dudley discusses 'Undiversified: The Big Gender Short in Investment Management' and how and why an influx of women money managers would be good for the industry and for investors, and Patrick Healy of Caliber Financial Partners talks about stocks and his barbell-approach between growth and value in the Market Call.

Josef Schuster, president of IPOX Schuster -- a firm that tracks and evaluates initial public offerings -- says that the hot names like Robinhood that have been making headlines in IPOs have been the lesser opportunities right now, noting that lesser-known small- and mid-cap new companies have a greater probability of upside and are a better value. Schuster talks about the current IPO market, but also covers special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and how they are changing the landscape for companies looking to go public, along with how both types of opportunity can fit into an individual investor's portfolio. Also on the show, Ron Surz, author of 'Baby Boomer Investing in the Perilous Decade of the 2020s,' covering the dangers he sees in target-date and life-cycle funds, and Chuck answers audience questions about moving averages, paying off mortgages, and combining funds, ETFs and closed-end funds in a portfolio.

Adam Abbas, portfolio manager and the co-head of fixed income for the Oakmark Funds, says that investors are seeing -- and must react to -- different types of inflation, starting with the quantifiable shortages creating 'bottleneck inflation' that is transitory, then 'easy money inflation' created by central bank policies and unprecedented economic stimulus, and that investors will still find fixed income useful in these times for consistent returns and protection of capital, even if rates are not particularly attractive. Also on the show, Kyle Guske of New Constructs discusses some popular stocks -- all of which have been highlighted previously in 'The Danger Zone' -- that look even more precarious after reporting their most-recent quarterly earnings, author Erika Benson discusses 'Land Investing Mistakes,' and Chuck answers two questions from audience members.