Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, says we are 'in the early part of a new cycle' that is going to include a pretty good bounce in economic growth next year and that should lead to reasonably good returns even as the economy and stock market come back into sync. He's expecting large-cap stocks to deliver 8 to 10 percent in the new year, which he termed as 'not wildly optimistic, but optimistic.' Also on the show, an extended Market Call that's all about investing in Fidelity funds featuring John Bonnanzio, editor of the Fidelity Monitor and Insight newsletter, and Left Brain Thinking, where Brian Dress, research director at Left Brain Investment Research, discusses why MercadoLibre -- a stock that's up 200 percent this year -- still has room to grow impressively in 2021 and beyond.

Neil Hennessy, chairman and chief executive officer at Hennessy Advisors and the Hennessy Funds, is optimistic about the stock market for 2021, and says that the Dow will overcome significant volatility to reach 35,000 -- roughly a 15 percent gain from current record levels --but he notes that it will also be a good year for value stocks and mid- and small-cap names and not just for big brand-name companies. Also on the show, Shane Bartling of Willis Towers Watson discusses the firm's 2020 Global Benefits Attitude Survey which showed that one in four full-time U.S. employees have seen their financial situation deteriorate this year, even though they were the lucky ones to hang onto their jobs amid the pandemic. Also, Barry James, portfolio manager for the James Advantage Funds, talks stocks in the Market Call.

David Jilek, chief investment strategist for Gateway Investment Advisors, says the market is poised for a reasonably good year ahead, but there are many potential trouble spots and risks. He notes that the market is pricing in greater implied volatility ahead for reasons related to the market, the pandemic, the economy, Federal Reserve policy and more more. He also notes that conservative investors are facing a period where their money isn't growing in low-rate fixed-income securities, forcing them to take on more risk to reach their goals. Also on the show, Meredith Stoddard discusses Fidelity's 2020 New Year's Resolution study, Kyle Guske of New Constructs talks in 'The Danger Zone' about why legacy credit ratings -- using traditional metrics and measures of the credit raters -- can create false impressions of corporate strength, and Chuck discusses the lists of the top companies that are being released for 2021 and whether investors should put any stock in these lists of the 'best stocks.'

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, says he expects a "digestion of gains" that could lead to a pullback or a mild correction, but he says that history says there are "two-plus years ahead of us before we have to start tiptoeing through the possibility of another bear market." Crit Thomas says that it is going to be a better year for consumers than the market, because the market has already discounted the recovery. XConsumers will be happy but the market has anticipated this, so even though we are starting anew bull market ... so even though expected returns booking even beyond 2021 may be more moderate, the early stages of the bull market suggest we should have a tilt towatrd risk on

Noted bond fund manager Mary Ellen Stanek, chief executive officer at the Baird Funds, says that while the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates lower for longer, investors looking to generate yield need to be cautious because the places providing the best returns are a significant step up the risk spectrum. She also noted that while mortgage securities have been viewed by many as improving yields, she is underweight on them now because they have significant refinancing risk that could leave investors with cash to reinvest but little or no attractive places to put it. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com makes an oil-services trend play his ETF of the Week, and Chuck answers two questions from the audience, one a tax question with some help from IraHelp.com founder Ed Slott.

Jim O'Shaughnessy of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management and author of 'What Works on Wall Street' discusses how what is working now in the pandemic market is the same as what has always worked, namely patience and diversification. In a wide-ranging interview, O'Shaughnessy makes it clear that investors can get by with simple portfolios and without complex new and alternative investments. Also on the show, Freddy Garcia of Left Brain Wealth Management discusses a few growth stocks in a value sector, financial services, and John Augustine of Huntington Private Bank talks stocks in the Market Call.

Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at Nuveen, says that the disconnect between the stock market and the economy -- what the market running ahead as the economy sifts through pandemic fallout -- will mend itself late next year or in 2022, and that the result will likely be somewhat muted returns for the stock market. Nick says the market should remain positive with pockets of volatility, but that returns are likely to be muted compared to the bounceback investors have seen in 2020. Also on the show, Josh Jamner of ClearBridge Investments discusses the firm's latest Anatomy of Recession report, and says that most economic factors show that we are much closer to recovery than we are to a double-dip recession, and Jordan Waldrep, chief investment officer at Truemark Investments discusses stocks in the Market Call. Plus, Chuck pays tribute to James Coonan, the founder of the American Association of Individual Investors, who passed away at age 89 on Dec. 14.

Eddy Vataru, portfolio manager for the Osterweis Total Return fund, says that he does not see income-oriented investors getting much help on the yield front in 2020.With that in mind, he explains that investors may want to look at the mortgage market, which he suggested can be a great substitute for Treasuries, generating more yield with less risk. Also on the show, David Trainer of New Constructs discusses some stocks that investors love for the wrong reason but that fiduciaries -- financial advisers -- should hate, Chuck answers an audience question about where to put what might be considered piggy-bank savings, and Chris Mack of Harding Loevner makes his debut talking stocks in the Market Call.

Steve Nguyen, portfolio manager at Causeway Capital Management, says that the development of coronavirus vaccines will have short-term and limited impact on health-care and pharmaceutical stocks, but that the change in administrations and the advent of new technologies will have a much more long-lasting and positive effect on the sector. Also on the show, James Clark of Nuveen Asset Management talks about real assets and infrastructure investments, Jill Gonzalez of WalletHub.com discusses a survey showing consumers dislike deferred interest credit cards, and Michael Robinson, chief technology strategist at Money Map Press, talks stocks in the Market Call.

Wayne Wicker, chief investment officer at ICMA Retirement Corp. and Vantagepoint Investment Advisors, says that 2020 should have taught investors the benefits of focusing on the long-term, where the results matter more than the day-to-day journey, and he stressed that 2021 will be a year in which diversification is helpful -- because the market will find different sources of leadership as it recovers from the pandemic -- to go along with what ultimately will be 'surprisingly good' results. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com makes a unique take on entrepreneurship his ETF of the Week, Simon Zhen of MyBankTracker.com talks about what people do with their spare change, and C.T. Fitzpatrick of Vulcan Value Partners says in the Market Call that people who say value investing is dead aren't defining the style correctly.