Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Mark Newton of Newton Advisors says that he expects the year to play out like 2018, when the stock market peaked in October and then suffered through the end of the year. Newton says that if the Standard and Poor's 500 breaks through 3,380 -- a level it nearly hit on Monday -- investors could be in for a slippery slope through December, a decline exacerbated by struggles among technology stocks and broader pressures facing popular stocks. Also on the show, Brian Estes of Off The Chain Capital talks bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, Sarah Berger of MagnifyMoney.com discusses the regrets investors report feeling over stocks they sold at the beginning of the pandemic, and David McInnis of the East Paces Group discusses how to deal with the volatility he expects to see after election day,

Mona Mahajan, US investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors,says that while investors sense the disconnect between the market and economy, the stock market has been driven by a few giant businesses that have done well, even as the small-business community has suffered through the pandemic. Mahajan believes investors have a good opportunity now to position themselves for the rally that she thinks will be driven next year by improving economic data. Also on the show, Holly Ward discusses the latest outlook survey from the National Association for Business Economics, author Rob Hatch talks about making simple, straightforward decisions in today's complex world, and David Trainer of New Constructs puts a popular name-brand in the Danger Zone.

Jim Welsh of Smart Portfolios says that he expects the market to correct to where the Standard and Poor's 500 index down as low as 3,000 before a rally in the first two months of 2021 -- largely the result of the government's next stimulus package -- possibly bringing the index back to 4,000. At that point, however, Welsh is worried that the bull market could run out of steam, vulnerable to a 'much bigger correction' as the coronavirus problem drags on. Also on the show, Bryce Rowe of National Securities Corp. talks about the strong opportunities in business-development companies now, author Marc Levenson talks globalization and his new book on how what started as moving stuff around has now become a way to move ideas, and we rebroadcast a recent Market Call covering small-cap stocks with Jay Kaplan of the Royce Funds.

Brent Schutte of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management says that the market and the economy are not as disjointed and disconnected as they seem at first blush, noting that the pandemic created an 'economic valley' that has mostly been filled by adaptive companies, federal policies, science pursuing vaccines and more. That has created a situation where Schutte believes the market can continue to performa and the economy can grow even with the virus problem unresolved. Also on the show, Tom Lydon makes a brand-new mid-cap focused fund his 'ETF of the Week,' Jim Callinan of Osterweis Emerging Opportunity fund talks about the secular market opportunities he sees happening now, and Susan Dziubinski of Morningstar Inc. discusses how the health-care industry is being reshaped by coronavirus.

Financial author, blogger and podcaster Meb Faber, chief investment officer at the Cambria Funds, says in a wide-ranging interview that investors need to stay focused on the process -- costs, fees and asset allocation -- and ignore 2020's constant noise. He discusses the ways that people fear lions and sharks but that it's creatures you aren't scared of -- like mosquitos and other people -- that actually cause the most deaths; likewise, investors focus on the news and not the boring stuff that truly determines how well their portfolios will perform. Also on the show, David Ellison, manager of Hennessy Large-Cap Financial and Hennessy Small-Cap Financial discusses banking, fin-tech, electronic and digital payments and more, and Noland Langford of Left Brain Investment Research talks about Crowdstrike and Uber, two growth stocks that earned a green light recently from the firm's disciplined research process.

Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist for Crossmark Global Investments, says that while we might expect the market to react to the election and to fundamentals, the foreseeable future of the market will be driven by what happens with Covid-19 and the way the pandemic plays out. She expects the market to jump back clearly once we get through the pandemic and see a reduction in cases and the beginning to the end of a pandemic. Also on the show, long-term trader Michael Sincere says he thinks the disconnect between the economy and the market needs to be resolved and that he expects that the economy's dour message will win out with the stock market suffering as a result, Matt Schulz of CompareCards.com discusses how grocery spending has changed during the coronavirus troubles, and Chuck discusses the 10-year anniversary of his heart attack and how his life has changed since then.

Alexi Panagiotakopoulos, chief investment officer at Fundamental Income, discusses the bifurcated situation in commercial real estate -- where properties for shopping malls and other uses seem to be headed for extinction while support properties like gas stations and drive-thrus is exploding -- stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, while Scott Helfstein, executive director of thematic investing for ProShares, talks about how the pandemic has created transformational change that will make four specific industries the places to be going forward. Also on the show, David Goodsell of the Natixis Investment Managers' Center for Investor Insight discusses the firm's 2020 Global Retirement Index, and Kyle Guske of New Constructs puts a technology fund in the "Danger Zone."

David Tepper of Tepper Capital Management in San Francisco explains why he uses closed-end funds almost exclusively in his client portfolios, noting that in today's market conditions there are plenty of opportunities to build a well-diversified portfolio at a discount, and adding that even long-term closed-end fund investors need to be prepared to take advantage of times when discounts narrow suddenly, creating short-term chances for bigger-than-expected gains.

Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com says that while the election could influence the sector, alternative energy companies are worth watching for now, and buying when the time is right. Lydon noted that a Joe Biden win in November could help solar-energy stocks, while a Donald Trump victory might hurt it, but the Invesco Solar ETF -- his ETF of the Week -- is so far above its 200-day average that investors should wait for a pullback to consider buying,but long-term should consider making solar a portfolio choice. Also on the show, author Margaret Heffernan discusses how to navigate the future in these particularly uncertain times, Francesca Ortegren of Clever Real Estate talks about the impact Covid-19 is having on mortgage payments and the real estate market, and Hank Smith of Haverford Trust Co. covers stock investing in the Market Call.

Retail specialist Dana Telsey of the Telsey Advisory Group says that the pandemic accelerated all of the big changes that were facing retailers and accelerated them, and while the result has been bankruptcies, consolidations and more -- and we won't be out of the woods until there's a stimulus package that boosts consumers -- there also are clear signs of how retail will survive and how the future for stores, malls and Internet offerings will look different. In another Big Interview, Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest, says that the market and economy are moving in the right direction -- generally in the direction of the 'old normal' -- but that it has been making that trip slowly and the pace likely won't pick up without resolution of stimulus efforts, a vaccine and more. Also, Brian Dress, director of research at Left Brain Investment Research, discusses the process that blends science with art to come up with names like Beyond Meat, a hot stock that he says still has major growth potential, and Ted Rossman of CreditCards.com talks about the high costs of retail-store credit cards and how they may not be the bargain they're made out to be based on check-out line discount promises.