Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Jeffrey Cleveland, chief economist at Payden and Rygel, says the economy is recovering faster than most people expected, and that it will pick up steam next year as the services sector catches up a bit to the goods and products businesses, which have already gotten back to pre-pandemic levels. Cleveland expects a vaccine and growing economy to buoy the stock market. In the Market Call, Daniel Kern of TFC Financial Management talks funds and ETFs, and Chuck starts things off discussing how investors need to look past the financial firm's reputation to consider whether an investment is appropriate for them.

Tom McIntyre of McIntyre, Freedman and Flyn says in the Market Call that the wild swings in headlines running from the tumultuous election through the pandemic and the twists and turns of the economy have left investors with few signals to read. He sees the market hibernating while investors try to figure out how to decipher signals, and expects a slow fourth quarter and start to 2021, and he suggests holding more cash than normal while waiting for it to play out. In the Big Interview, Kirk Chisholm of Innovative Advisory Group discusses modern portfolio theory, the 4 percent retirement-spending rule and other basic tenets of personal finance and discusses why those old saws don't serve investors so well any more. Also on the show, David Trainer of New Constructs explains why BOX belongs in the Danger Zone, and Chuck answers a question about funds based on the social (ESG) version of the Standard and Poor's 500 Index.

Brian Frank of the Frank Value Fund, an absolute-value manager, says in the Market Call that the rising tide of the market has not been lifting all boats, but rather has been lifting the top technology like it's 1999. That makes it hard to find good values, but Frank discusses a few and some of the surprising industries he is finding them in right now. Also on the show, Rick Redding of the Index Industry Association discusses the ongoing explosion in the creation if indexes and how that impacts both the fund industry and individual investors, Brian Schaffer of Prosek Partners talks about activism in closed-end funds and the importance of good communications to ease tensions in those corporate battles, and Lance Ippolito of theFutureofWealth.com talks the market's technicals.

Terri Spath, chief investment officer at the Sierra Mutual Funds, says that muni bonds, high-yield corporate bonds and emerging market stocks -- all of which were becoming a strong play leading up to the election -- are in a sweet spot after the voting, and noted that are mostly under-represented in investors' portfolios, which should make them particularly interesting now. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com looks to emerging markets -- and specifically China -- for the ETF of the Week, Chuck answers a question about dividend reinvestment plans, and Christopher Zook of CAZ Investments tackles thematic, growth-at-a-reasonable-price investing in the Market Call.

Jeffrey Miller, portfolio manager at Incline Investment Advisors, says in the Money Life Market Call that the current economic recovery has been 'overstated,' leaving a division between the stocks that work now and those that will be good to own after the recession. That recession, however, is something that Miller believes we have not emerged from, that it's the same downturn that started before the pandemic hit, triggering the market's fall in February and March. He expects a bounce-back for the market as the economy recovers. Also on the show, Janice Quek of Left Brain Investment research discusses why investors want to add Southeast Asia to their portfolio and covers one emerging-markets stock that she thinks is particularly promising now, Bill Costello of the Westwood Funds talks about energy and utility companies now, and Chuck takes an audience-member's question about the tax-efficiency of exchange-traded funds.

Adam Grimes, president of Talon Advisors, expects the market to find conviction and direction after the election, whether it takes a turn for the dark with strong selling -- a week or two with no snap back that could trigger a bear market -- or moves back to record highs and holds those peaks to start a new run up. Whichever way the market goes, Grimes says investors need to avoid being on the wrong side of the new momentum, buying a dip that turns into something bigger or taking profits but missing out on a growth wave. Also on the show, Sudarshan Murthy of GQG Partners talks emerging markets and whether they have advantages from coming through the pandemic ahead of other parts of the world, Jill Gonzalez of WalletHub.com discusses the lengths consumers are going to when it comes to iPhones, and Chuck Self of iSectors talks exchange-traded funds and how 'minimizing downside risk' ultimately leads to bigger profits in the Market Call.

David Trainer, president of New Constructs, says Wayfair, Carvana, Beyond Meat, Dropbox and Spotify Technology all qualify as popular stocks -- despite being saddled by what the Nashville-based firm describes as 'misleading earnings' -- that are headed for trouble, and that they will hit that rough patch soon no matter who wins the White House in Tuesday's election or how they change economic policies moving forward. Also on the show, Giorgio Caputo of J.O. Hambro Capital Management discusses 'green income,' Gregg Fisher of Quent Capital discusses small-cap stocks in the Market Call, and Chuck discusses the results of his annual Halloween trade-or-treat, cash-or-candy efforts.

Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab, says that the market and economy are likely to slog through the election, the rest of the pandemic and the continuing recovery, but will come out positioned for a broad recovery late next year. Also on the show, John Cole Scott of the Active Investment Company Alliance answers audience questions about investing in closed-end funds, Toni Turner of TrendStar Trading Group discusses the current market fight -- visible in the technicals -- between buyers and sellers, and Jeff Zananiri, head trader at JoyoftheTrade.com talks stocks in the Market Call.

Paul Gruenwald, chief economist at SP Global Ratings, expects to see impressive growth numbers, but he doesn't find them exciting because the economy still has a significant hole to climb out of, and that the resurgent virus, trouble with stimulus and more are standing in the way of what should be a more-exciting recovery over the next few years. In another interview on the show, Esty Dwek, head of global market strategy for Natixis Investment Managers, agrees with a number of Gruenwald's points; she also notes that the comparative numbers are weird, but says that she expects the economy to get back to pre-pandemic, 2019 economic numbers, with the key issue being whether it happens before the end of 2022. This show also features Greg McBride of Bankrate.com on the site's landmark checking-account survey,. and Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com making an online-retail specialty fund his ETF of the Week.

Brian Dress of Left Brain Investment Research says that earnings season is 'the Super Bowl and Olympics all rolled into one,' and with four of the FAANG stocks reporting on Thursday, he discusses in this week's Left Brain Thinking segment how to use earnings reports, transcripts and more to identify opportunities in stocks and bonds. Also on the show, author Roger Martin discusses his book, 'When More is Not Better: Overcoming America's Obsession with Economic Efficiency,' Matt Schulz of CompareCards.com talks about the troubles with store credit cards, and Maz Jadallah of AlphaClone covers the favorite stocks of hedge funds in the Market Call.