Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for the Independent Advisor Alliance, says the resilience of the economy has been surprising, staving off recession longer than he expected and allowing the market to fight off headwinds that still seem poised to create a recession, whether it comes late this year or into 2024. Zaccarelli does say the economy's strength will put the Federal Reserve in a tough spot, having to decide if it needs to increase rates again, and potentially pushing the eventual recession into a hard landing for the market. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of VettaFi makes his 'ETF of the Week' an agriculture strategy fund powered by artificial intelligence, Matt Brannon of Clever Real Estate discusses a survey of home renters who say at alarmingly high rates that they have been priced out of the American Dream of home ownership, and Peter Crane, president of Crane Data, discusses money-market funds and their suddenly competitive yields and how they will hold up in a world looking at banking crisis and possible government default.

Herb Greenberg, senior editor at Empire Financial Research, says that the overlooked story in the drop in bank stock prices is the role that exchange-traded funds likely played in making it happen. He discusses his recent article on the subject, which points to the way ETFs are traded as a significant contributing factor to the big drop in banking stocks, and notes that the same phenomenon could impact other market sectors that get hit with bad news in the future. Also on the show, Ed Carson, news editor at Investor's Business Daily, discusses the huge drop in investor sentiment during April and how it impacted all major components of the Economic Optimism Index, and portfolio manager Andrew Graham of Jackson Square Capital talks stocks in the Market Call.

John Kosar, chief market strategist at Asbury Research says the current range-bound market is 'building up energy' and if the market can break through 4,200 on the Standard and Poor's 500, it is feasible that the market can reach new, record highs by the end of the year. But there is no clarity on the direction of the market, and if there is continued small-cap weakness and other trouble spots and the SP500 drops below 3,800 it could fall as low as 3,400 before any rally can start. Kosar notes that until the market shows more signs of clarity, he'd avoid betting on the direction of the market. Also on the show, Find Me the Money with forensic accountant Tracy Coenen focuses on how 'fair and honest' disclosure can't be taken for granted in many divorce cases, Chuck discusses the NASDAQ Composite officially exiting bear-market territory, and author Rob Cross, discusses 'The Microstress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems--and What to Do About It.'

Absolute-value investor Brian Frank of the Frank Value Fund says that with cash now paying close to 5 percent, it's 'gotten a lot easier to go to cash,' but it also has raised the bar on stocks and for how investors should set their expectations. 'If you don't think you're going to be making more than 5 percent on a stock,' Frank says in the Market Call, 'why are you buying it if cash is paying you [5 percent] now?' Also on the show, Lewis Black, chief executive officer at Almonty Industries, talks about the market for tungsten and how the metal has the potential to be the cause of tough economic conditions and geopolitical football; David Trainer of New Constructs puts Kenvue -- the spin-off of Johnson and Johnson consumer brands -- in the Danger Zone in its first few days after going IPO, and Chuck answers a listener's question that goes to the heart of Brian Frank's discussion on going to cash, about whether cash returns are so good right now that a nervous investor might use bank accounts to ride out whatever the market dishes out next.

Alaina Anderson, co-portfolio manager of the William Blair International Leaders Fund, says investors should be looking abroad with their money right now because the market has reached an inflection point with international stocks being much more attractively valued than domestics, and having improved profitability and sustainable results now. Anderson warns that the global rate-hiking cycle may not be done, but says foreign stocks may be better positioned to ride out whatever central banks dish out next. Buck Klintworth, portfolio manager at Chase Investment Counsel, says it's a market of conflicting signals where the technicals can make a case for just about any outcome. He sees a bullish Standard and Poor's 500, but notes that much of the strength has been among the largest names, suggesting that the rally is not sustainable long-term. In The NAVigator segment, Christian Munafo, chief investment officer, in Liberty Street Advisors -- which runs the Private Shares Fund -- says there are two stories dominating the private equity markets, with high-performing well-financed private innovation companies being proverbial unicorns compared to less- differentiated, less-capitalized companies which are more prone than ever to failure due to conditions in the capital markets. In the Market Call, Daniel Dusina, director of investments at Blue Chip Partners, talks brand-name, large-cap stocks.

Kevin Mahn, president and chief investment officer, Hennion and Walsh Asset Management, says that while the Federal Reserve has been trying to kill or diminish demand, it hasn't done a great job bringing inflation closer to its target level of 2 percent. As a result, Mahn thinks that the Fed and investors will have to live with inflation around the 3 percent level into 2024, and says that the Fed may ultimately have to accept that higher inflation is here to stay and strongly resistant to the traditional methods for curtailing inflation. Also on the show, Tom Lydon, vice chairman at VettaFi, makes the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR his pick for 'ETF of the Week,' noting that while the sector is defensive in nature, the fund has been on a roll that has pushed it to all-time high levels; and Joe Boskovich Sr., chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Old West Investment Management makes his debut in the Money Life Market Call talking value stocks and concentrated portfolios.

Christopher Mizer, founder of Vivaris Capital, says that alternatives were in a hot spot a year ago -- when stocks were 'frightfully overvalued' -- and investors needed investments that had building cash flows and organic growth potential, but now with the market valued more reasonably, the role that alternatives are playing is to reduce long-term volatility and to offer a steadiness that the market doesn't seem to have right now. He discusses climate technology and other alternative investments that investors might consider now. Also on the show, James Nelson, author of 'The Insider's Edge to Real Estate Investing,' talks about investing in real estate at a time of high interest rates and wild fluctuations in property prices, Ted Rossman of Bankrate.com discusses the site's survey of how consumers are planning for summer vacations but altering their itineraries to deal with inflation, and Chuck answers a listener's question about whether there are any star mutual fund managers left and if investors should seek them out.

Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Hi Mount Research, says that with the domestic stock market showing more stocks making new lows than highs, the U.S. market is increasingly challenged. Witht hat in mind, Delwiche says investors should be looking overseas because 'the rest of the world increasingly looks like it is in an uptrend and poised to continue making new highs.' Also on the show, in 'Find Me the Money,' forensic accountant Tracy Coenen discusses financial infidelity and how and when people cross the line and create relationship problems with their money behaviors, Chuck answers a listener's question about how any potential government default will hit home, and we revisit a recent Market Call conversation with Jeff Muhlenkamp of the Muhlenkamp Fund.

David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs, makes pet-insurer Trulanuon the 33rd member of his firm's list of 'zombie stocks,' nothing that the company still has a long runway — nearly two years before he expects it to be bankruptcy — but almost no hope. Chuck discusses real expertise and the importance of vetting experts at a time when most news and information sources are looking to fill space. Plus Craig Martin discusses the latest research from J.D. Power showing how unhappy self-determined investors are with their results, and Charles Rotblut of AAII Journal gives his take on last week's Morningstar Investment Conference, as well as on the current sentiment of investors.

It's the third and final day of interviews from the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago, and Joel Dickson, global head of advice methodology at Vanguard, carries the dicussion on the classic 60-40 portfolio further -- rivaling Catherine LeGraw from GMO who you heard on Thursday's show -- saying that the classic stock-bonds mix remains the most simple, straightforward, cost-effective solution for investors who can ride out the bumps and bruises along the way. But he's the closer on a show that starts with Super Mario -- Mario Gabelli of the Gabelli Funds -- returning for The NAVigator to discuss his long-time love for closed-end fund investing. Plus, Chuck chats with Wade Pfau, a leading authority on annuities, reverse mortgages and structured income products, Tara York of the alternatives platform Luma Financial Technologies, Morningstar's director of personal finance Christine Benz, ETF product specialist Nick Elward of Natixis Investment Managers, and global deep-value investor Michael Campagna of Moerus Capital.