Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Bill Davis, portfolio manager at Stance Capital -- which managed the Hennessy Stance ESG ETF -- says companies in the bottom two-thirds of the Standard & Poor's 500 are poised to out perform moving forward as the stock market moves back towards normalcy with more stocks sharing in the solid economic underpinnings and the Magnificent Seven stocks and other giants having reduced role in the market's growth. Likewise, Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management, says the resilient economy in the United States is pointing towards a soft-or no-landing situation where more stocks should benefit from inflation normalizing. That's also what has economists being more optimistic, as the February Outlook Survey from the National Association for Business Economics, released today, shows that a majority of economists expect inflation to hit the Federal Reserve's target level of 2 percent next year; Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, discusses the survey. Plus David Trainer, president of New Constructs, puts Revvity Inc. -- a company with what he says are massively overstated street earnings -- in the Danger Zone.

Bill Nygren, co-manager of the Oakmark Fund, says investors should expect slower growth from the market for the next decade; as a result, he says "the long-term equity investor should probably be thinking about something on the order of 7or 8 percent a year rather than the double-digit level." There will still be buys, Nygrem says, but investors will need to go against the herd -- and be selective amongst names like the Magnificent Seven stocks -- in order to find them. John Cole Scott, president of Closed-End Fund Advisors, digs into his firm's data to compare and contrast business development companies and municipal bond closed-end funds as a way to pump up yield without feeling like you've taken on too much risk in a scary interest rate environment. Plus, Michael Loukas, chief executive officer at TrueMark Investments, talks about artificial intelligence and deep learning stocks in The Market Call.

Bernie Horn, long-time manager of Polaris Global Value, says that value stocks have outperformed growth stocks outside of the United States for several years and he expects the domestic markets to follow suit as central banks keep interest rates higher, creating positive real returns for fixed income and ending some of the bubbles caused in equity sectors caused by years of borrowings at interest rates near zero. While he expects the change to be global, Horn notes that he favors international stocks now because their valuations are more attractive. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi also goes international with his ETF of the Week, picking an emerging market fund that excludes China for investors who have been scared away by concerns over China's markets. Nate Miles, head of retirement at Allspring Global Investments discusses the firm's annual retirement survey, which showed that two-thirds of retirees and near-retirees think they are ready for retirement, but advisers think just 40 percent of their clientele is ready to make the leap. Plus, Dave Grossman, the founder of MilesTalk, discusses how to travel the world on loyalty points and frequent-flier miles and digs into the Capital One-Discovery merger and how it might change the points landscape for years.

Phillip Colmar, global strategist at MRB Partners, says that the Federal Reserve is not going to give the market the five or more interest rate cuts it has been expecting. As a result, he suggests banking on bond yields that will stay higher for longer, even if the central bank gives a token cut or two; on stocks, he expects a better growth picture without a recession or a big correction, but because valuations are high he is looking to securities with earnings power, so he is thinking mega-cap financials, aerospace and defense companies and more. Nick Young, chief experience officer at Money Pickle, discusses what savers and investors should expect from a first meeting with a financial adviser and how to guard against falling in love at first conversation, Chuck answers a listener's question about the differences between closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds and Taylor Krystkowiak, investment strategist at the Themes ETFs, talks thematic investments in the Market Call.

David Giroux, manager of T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation -- a fund that has beaten the performance of its average peer for a record 16 straight calendar years -- says that while U.S. stock valuations have gotten lofty, investors "don't need to diversify into a worse geography," and says investors can get international exposure by buying U.S. multi-nationals and have better companies. Domestically, Giroux says that the mega-cap Magnificent Seven stocks have gotten expensive but they are still worth holding over the next five years, but that investors must realize they won't "be where the best risk-rewards is in the market today." He's looking at high-grade fixed income, as well as utilities, parts of health care and other areas where low valuations are making the probability of success high. Also on the show, Matt Fox, president at Ithaca Wealth Management, says that the technicals are challenging for the market right now because "there is no real price memory" when the market moves into record territory, yet he is encouraged by "Multi-year bases that have experienced decisive breakouts across all sectors of the market," a phenomenon normally seen relatively early in an uptrend. Fox does think the market could retest the 4,800 level soon, but he remains positive on where it goes from here. Plus, author Kurt Wagner comes in for The Book Interview, discussing his new book -- out today -- "Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter's Soul."

Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, says that several European nations are in recession while their stock markets are pushing through record highs, in conditions so unusual that U.S. activities are helping foreign multinationals keep rolling. Still, Miskin believes the U.S. is the best market, though he is now skewing the portfolio toward mid-cap names, pulling back slightly on the mega-cap giants over valuation concerns and leaning into bonds for the safety of consistent returns in excess of 5 percent. Matt Harris, chief investment officer at The Hausberg Group, turns the conversation to technicals, and while he believes that "There's not much that is more bullish than all-time highs," he thinks returns will be muted for 2024. Plus, Dana Staggs, president of ArrowMark Financial Corp., discusses how investments in the banking business through something called "regulatory capital relief securities" can both juice and stabilize returns, and Christopher Zook, president, CAZ Investments returns to the show, talking thematic investing at a reasonable price in the Market Call.

Rick Pitcairn, chief global strategist at Pitcairn, says that while the markets have been dominated by monetary policy for the last decade or more, the next 20 years will see fiscal policy will be equally or more important because of how the government borrows money and what it needs to take on in new debts to keep rolling. Pitcairn acknowledges that the current dysfunction in Washington worries him about how policies will be set and the potential fallout from gridlock. In the Market Call, Dan Kim, senior investment analyst at Saturna Capital -- co-manager of the Sextant International fund -- talks about the international opportunities available now, plus Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi turns to a long-time traditional fund manager making a recent move into exchange-traded funds for his ETF of the Week.

David Hay, co-chief investment officer at Evergreen Gavekal -- author of the Haymaker newsletter focused on macroeconomic research -- says that 'Pseudo prosperity is still prosperity,' and investors should like whatever they are getting from the economy now because he does not think it will last. Hay says the market "is almost all-in on Goldilocks," which will "make it hard to make money betting on the soft landing." Christopher Zook, president of CAZ Investments -- co-author of Tony Robbins' new book, "The Holy Grail of Investing" -- talks about the themes and the alternative investments that will drive the next decade or more while delivering oversized gains. Plus, in "The Financial Crunch," Cam Miller, chief revenue officer at Money Pickle, talks about how much money someone needs to have before turning to a financial adviser for help.

Julius de Kempenaer, senior technical analyst at StockCharts, says that the stock market is "crashing higher," having reached record levels with no signs of stopping but that doesn't mean he's buying now because he finds it over-stretched. De Kempenaer sees the market going through rotation right now, with money flowing from value into growth right now helping to push things higher. Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association returns to the show to discuss the January Beer Purchasers' Index, which showed that consumers have been responding to inflation by cutting back on the high-end beers and spending more on the below-premium drinks. Plus, insurance analyst Shannon Martin of Bankrate.com discusses the high and rising costs of auto insurance, and author Michael Graetz discusses his new book, "The Power to Destroy: How the Antitax Movement Hijacked America."

Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, says that while market valuations are high right now on a historic basis -- which might make investors cautious -- the sky-high prices for the Magnificent Seven stocks that have been leading the market to record levels have left room for the other stocks in the index to be particularly reasonable. That means the market's overall valuation is more reasonable than headlines suggest, and there is room to grow in other sectors. Likewise, economists are feeling like economic policies are working well enough to avoid big problems like recession this year -- according to the latest Policy Survey from the National Association for Business Economics, released today; Lester Jones of the NABE survey committee discusses how economists still have some worries about fiscal policies and how the Federal Reserve might mess things up. Plus David Trainer of New Constructs revisits a Danger Zone pick that has fallen dramatically but that he thinks will go all the way to zero in due time, and author Jared Dillian talks about his new book "No Worries: How to Live a Stress-Free Financial Life" and how three key financial decisions will determine how easily you can avoid feeling day-to-day financial pressures.