Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Lyle Fitterer, senior portfolio manager at Baird, says investors should not jump the gun expecting rate cuts just because the Federal Reserve has paused its hiking cycle and some pundits think the next move could be down. Fitterer thinks the Fed will at least keep rates higher for longer, possibly hiking some more later this year, with the economy likely to slow down into a soft landing or mild recession. Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at BankRate.com discussed the site's recent survey showing that a majority of Americans are uncomfortable with their level of emergency savings, with fewer than half having saved three months worth of expenses to guard against job loss or other personal catastrophe. And David Trainer, president of New Constructs, reaffirms three recent Danger Zone picks -- Cava, Warby Parker and Lucid Group -- for very different reasons; CAVA had a big pop off its IPO, WRBY hit New Constructs' targets as a short but have enough room to run lower that Trainer is sticking with it as a downer, and Lucid recently hit a new low despite a big influx of cash that took it off the firm's list of Zombie stocks but only forestalled the trouble that Trainer feels lies ahead.

Rob Williams, managing director of financial planning for Charles Schwab, discusses the firm's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey, which showed that Americans feel they need $2.2 million to actually 'be wealthy,' but just $560,000 to 'feel wealthy,' noting that the difference involves lifestyle, health and happiness considerations. Clearly, however, the old standard goal of being a millionaire is insufficient, and Williams said it has been outdated for years. Also on the show, Mickey Schleien managing director of equity research at Ladenburg Thalmann and Co. discusses how business-development companies have been impacted by rising interest rates and tighter monetary policy, Aaron Collett discusses the private-credit market -- which he says hasn't had a down year in more than three decades -- but also the benefits of accessing it by using cryptocurrency and, in the Market Call, Kevin Rendino of 180 Degree Capital covers Graham-Dodd style value investing in small- and micro-cap stocks.

Aditi Javeri Gokhale, chief strategy officer at Northwestern Mutual, says that the average American expects to retire two years later than they did just a year ago, one of several key findings in the latest data release from the firm's 2023 Planning & Progress Study out today. She notes that Americans expect to need $1.27 million to retire, and that most have less than 10 percent of that amount saved. Tom Lydon, vice chairman at VettaFi, makes a brand new fund from PIMCO, that launches today, his ETF of the Week. Plus Alyssa Stankiewicz, research analyst at Morningstar discusses anti-ESG investing and Sam Burns, chief strategist at Mill Street Research, brings his quantitative approach to stocks in the Market Call.

Duke University professor Campbell Harvey, senior advisor at Research Affiliates, says that the yield-curve inversion the U.S. economy is facing is the worst, most-dangerous kind of inverted conditions, and that the Federal Reserve is steering us increasingly toward a hard landing. Harvey is the researcher whose work pointed out the correlation between inverted yield curves and recessions, and he does not think the current economy has any hope of bucking the trend, particularly if high rates put stress on more banks. Also on the show, Chuck Bell, advocacy program director for Consumer Reports, discusses how much money Americans are really losing to hidden and junk fees that President Biden and Congress are currently trying to get under better control. Plus, Katherine Roy of Edward Jones discusses the firm's recent study showing how many Americans have faced cannonball events – major challenges that can derail a financial plan -- or curveballs, relatively minor occurrences that cause setbacks, and how they have recovered frmo those challenges.

Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management says that the stock market is still reacting as if the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates before the end of this year, ignoring the likelihood that the central bank instead follows the data and pushes to get rates to 6 percent before holding steady for longer. He sees a soft landing and mild recession ahead for the economy. Indrani De, global head of investment research at FTSE Russell discusses the 'Russell Reconstitution' process of updating the firm's indexes -- which is being completed this week -- and what the benchmark's changes say about the market and economy at this time. Plus, Marty Fridson discusses 'The Little Book of Picking Top Stocks,' which encourages pursuing big winners in addition to maintaining a balanced, traditional investment approach, and in the latest episode of 'Find Me The Money,' forensic accountant Tracy Coenen talks about how it's not gender but instead an imbalance of power and knowledge that is at the root of most couples' money problems.

Chris Marangi, co-chief investment officer for value at the Gabelli Funds, says the market is starting to focus on growth and the Federal Reserve's ability to delay and minimize recession, and he believes the central bank will get the job done. Marangi says in The NAVigator segment that 'the new normal' is one where inflation is higher than the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent and growth is below trend, which he expects will create opportunities far beyond the handful of stocks that have driven market gains this year. Eric Gerster of AlphaCore Wealth Advisory says in the Talking Technicals segment that the range-bound market has been moving the range higher, and is likely to keep headed that way for the remainder of the year, Masa Takeda of the Hennessy Japan Fund discusses the expanding growth opportunities in the world's third-largest economy in The Big interview, and John Barr of the Needham Funds talks growth investing in the Market Call.

Michael Lowenberg, portfolio manager for the Modern Capital Tactical Opportunities fund, says that years pf interest rates being held artificially low has created opportunities for investors looking for income now, at a point where cash can be a more tactical investment choice and closed-end funds offer good opportunities to buy income streams at a discount. He's in for the Market Call today, but Bryan Shipley of Arnerich Massena discusses behavioral economics and just how hard it is for investors to buy into financial assets at times when they are on sale. Plus, Tom Lydon of VettaFi looks to a famous brand-name index fund -- but one that's not the standard measure of the market these days -- for his ETF of the Week, and retirement columnist Brett Arends of MarketWatch discusses how seniors are more worried about running out of money than they are about death.

Ben Inker, co-head of asset allocation for GMO, says that recessions come and go and don't leave 'much of alasting mark on either the economy or the markets,' so while he expects the ecoomy to go through a recession soon, he's not sure it matters to long-term investors, particularly those in value stocks, as he talks about a recent paper debunking the idea that underpriced stocks door poorly during economic downturns. Also on the show Susan Fahy of VantageScore says that the firm's most recent Credit Gauge shows that the K-shaped recovery is continuing to punish the have-nots; she also notes that there are some signs of stress for consumers based on current credit behaviors. In the Market Call, Ken Applegate, lead portfolio manager for Wasatch International Growth and Wasatch Select International talks about investing now around the world.

Veteran technical analyst Martin Pring of Pring Research says that the primary trends he is seeing right now are up, and he is expecting more of a breakout because we are in the early stages of a bull market, but while that trend is positive, Pring says he has low expectations for the current cycle because the market is in the process of transitioning from a secular bull market to a secular bear market, which he thinks will leave markets range-bound for several years, even if the trend for the remainder of the year is generally positive. Also on the show, Haydar Haba of Andra Capital talks the future of global de-dollarization and his take on how artificial intelligence compares to 'revolutions' of the past, forensic accountant Tracy Coenen points to the hidey holes used to obscure cash in the latest edition of 'Find Me The Money' and Mike Bailey of FBB Capital Partners talks 'beat and replace' investing in the Market Call.

Kyle Guske, investment analyst at New Constructs, says that while the firm's research shows that 73 percent of companies are overstating their core earnings when adding in one-time events and other factors that are part of what's known as 'street earnings,' he sees five companies with the most overblown numbers as ready for a fall, identifying MGM Resorts, PG and E Corp, Boston Scientific, Fiserv and PPL Corp. Bruce Kelly, senior columnist at InvestmentNews, discusses the latest lawsuit facing financial guru Dave Ramsey, over recommendations about a time-share workout firm that did not, well, work out, deep-value investor Michael Campagna of Moerus Capital in the Market Call, and Chuck talks about the sneaky but necessary path a fund company took to get shareholders -- himself included -- to vote their proxy.