Synopsis
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe is leading the way in business and financial radio.The Money Life Podcast is sorting through the financial clutter every day to bring you the information you need to do better with Money Life
Episodes
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Hartford Funds' Jacobson: Amid uncertainty, foreign markets look better than the U.S.
16/07/2025 Duration: 57minNanette Abuhoff Jacobson, global investments strategist for the Hartford Funds, says that uncertainty, by itself, hasn't derailed global markets and slowed growth, but that it could be starting to happen now with signs that there has been a lag time impacting tariff impacts and that core prices are starting to rise. Jacobson says that U.S. investors have become "complacent and they're pricing in a bit of a Goldilocks scenario;" she is still positive on equities, but she is underweight U.S. stocks and overweight emerging markets, Europe and Japan.Michael Gayed, portfolio manager of the new Free Markets ETF — as well as the ATAC Funds — discusses how deregulation policies will benefit certain industries and businesses and how reduced compliance and other regulatory costs will result in bigger profits and more capital expenditures, and will particularly benefit small-cap stocks. Plus, Jesse Abercrombie discusses Edward Jones' "Pulse of North America" survey — conducted at the height of April's post-tariff announ
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Fundstrat's Newton expects the market to melt up another 5% by year's end
15/07/2025 Duration: 57minMark Newton, global head of technical strategy at Fundstrat Global Advisors, says he is optimistic for the rest of 2025, though he expects choppiness as the Standard & Poor's 500 moves toward a year-end target of 6,650. Newton says the economy has been resilient through the headline risks and that the market is in a "Goldilocks state because the Fed is certainly going to cut three times between now and next summer, earnings are coming in good and yet there's still a wall of worry," making for "a very favorable path for investing in the second half of this year." Economist and New York University professor Howard Yaruss says that the economy is entering "literally uncharted territory" when it comes to tariffs, with free international trade being upended by current government policies. Yaruss is worried that the economic impacts of tariffs haven't truly hit yet, but he says the lag is about to end and that means the numbers will start to get ugly and could push the U.S. economy into recession and/or stagfla
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Housing economist makes case for cutting a home out of the American Dream
14/07/2025 Duration: 59minBrad Case, chief economist at Middleburg Communities, says that while Americans have been complaining about the housing market and available home stock, the market is not far off from historic norms. That said, he also discussed some recent research he did showing that Americans would be better off renting a home — and investing the savings they get on various aspects of ownership — than they are by tying up the biggest chunk of their monies in a home, which he considers to be an asset that puts up comparatively small gains over long periods of time. David Trainer, president of New Constructs, comes through with an attractive stock selection, picking Halliburton as a company that is likely to benefit from beating earnings soon. The pick follows up on the Danger Zone segment from last week, when Trainer singled out Caesars Entertainment as a stock likely to miss projected earnings and to be punished by the market as a result. Charles Rotblut, vice president for the American Association of Individual Investors,
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ViewRight's Randazzo: Market signals 'point to strength' that can roll on long-term
11/07/2025 Duration: 01h03sVincent Randazzo, founder and chief market strategist at ViewRight Advisors, says that while the stock market appears overbought in the short-term — and may need some time to get through it — the longer-term indicators are bullish, and suggest that the rally that has been in place for three years now can continue. Randazzo says that indicators are showing that the market appears to be broadening out, and that improving market participation and improving investor confidence should help power the market through headline risks. In The NAVigator, John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors — chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance — says he expects three first-half laggards in municipal bonds, senior loans and master limited partnerships to become leaders for the rest of 2025, and suggests attractive options for riding those trends. In the Market Call, Garvin Jabusch, co-founder and chief investment officer at Green Alpha Advisors discusses his efforts to find companies that are truly innovative and dri
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Looking at the future of the energy sector, bitcoin mining, 'Trump accounts' and more
10/07/2025 Duration: 01h01minIt's a wide-ranging show today, with Ben Cook, portfolio manager for the Hennessy Energy Transition and Hennessy Mid-Stream funds, giving his latest take on the energy sector, noting that the industry is well-positioned to at least not be hurt while tariff policies play out, even as the U.S. has become the world's largest oil-producing nation and the OPEC nations are looking to improve their fortunes. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, revisits the CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF — which he featured as ETF of the Week at the beginning of March and which gained 78 percent during the second quarter of 2025 — noting that miners and spot crypto funds serve different purposes in a portfolio, but that both are poised for more growth now. Melissa Stephenson discusses her research for Sudokubliss.com that looked at the theme parks that provide good value for your money while keeping lines short enough that complaints are few, and Chuck does a deep dive on the so-called "Trump accounts" that were cre
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KraneShares' Ahern on the impact of a 'likely' U.S.-China trade deal
09/07/2025 Duration: 59minBrendan Ahern, chief investment officer at KraneShares and the author of the China Last Night blog, says that the government of China is "doing the things that Trump wants them to be doing" for domestic policy purposes, which is why he sees the signs of a U.S.-China trade deal in the works. He says in The Big Interview that neither side can win in a trade war, but that both sides can move forward sharply and strongly with agreement, even if tariff levels remain high and in place indefinitely. Ahern says that "the worst is behind us" on dollar weakness, noting that he doesn't expect the Federal Reserve to cut rates until later in the year, allowing the dollar to stabilize in the interim while tariff policies are being finalized. Bob Powell, retirement columnist at TheStreet.com discusses government projections showing that standard monthly premiums for Medicare Part B will rise by more than 11 percent in 2026, and will likely be subjected to higher-than-expected increases potentially for the next decade. Plus,
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Sage's Williams: Worst case is off the table, but the market has potholes ahead
08/07/2025 Duration: 59minRob Williams, chief investment strategist at Sage Advisory Services, says the economy and market have moved off of potential worst-case scenarios into "this manageable camp," where it must get through potholes and uncertainty as the economy "flirts with stall speed" in growth. Still, Williams sees some powerful tailwinds that could drive the market higher in the second half of the year, but the concerns make it that investors should remember that "yield is your friend." "Be fully invested in equities," Williams says, "but don't be stealing from fixed income yet to overload on the equity side. You will want that yield if things get bumpy." Bob Rosen, author of "Detach: Ditch Your Baggage to Live a More Fulfilling Life" discusses how to break away from uncertainty — which he says is a constant in life, and not just present in times like today — to be happy and productive even when conditions make that hard. Plus Chip Lupo discusses a WalletHub survey showing that the tariff uncertainty has made consumers — anti
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Ritholtz's Maggiulli on the problem with fast recoveries, diversification and more
07/07/2025 Duration: 58minNick Maggiulli, chief operating officer at Ritholtz Wealth Management — the author of the "Of Dollars and Data" blog — says that while recoveries can happen faster now than in the past due to advances in technology and information, investors who always expect the market to bounce back quickly from any setback have learned the wrong lesson. While he is not calling for a protracted downturn, he is suggesting investors want to protect themselves; to that end, he discusses how proper diversification practically forces individuals to buy and hold something that will lose money, even when everything else is doing well. That makes it hard to do, even if it's the best path. Maggiulli also discusses achieving financial independence — and the mindset to enjoy it — and more. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs, resurrects some of the firm's research looking at which stocks are most in jeopardy of an earnings miss when second-quarter numbers are released in the coming weeks, and singles out one well-kn
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Economist Torres expects rate cuts, tariff clarity and more to power a bull run
03/07/2025 Duration: 01h07sJose Torres, senior economist for Interactive Brokers, says that the economy is about to get past tariffs — "the huge negative of the Trump policy mix" — and move to lighter taxation, milder regulations, subdued energy costs, rising factory production and, hopefully, rising employment as well," which creates a bullish outlook for the economy and the stock market into 2026. Torres says he expects the Federal Reserve to begin cutting rates this month and says the central bank has plenty of ammunition to fend off any recessionary pressures left while inflation gets through the initial tariff impacts. Torres noted that IBKR's forecast trader suggests 25 percent odds that the Fed will trim this month, but he believes that's low and that the Fed has been too tight. Kyle Brown, chief executive officer at Trinity Capital, says government policies have been paying off for business-development companies as the private credit markets have seen a spike in demand as a result of the capital expenditures that American busi
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Veteran journalist Greenberg on a stock scam and 'the golden age of grift'
02/07/2025 Duration: 01h57sHerb Greenberg, editor of Herb Greenberg's Red Flag Alerts, tells the story of a stock scam that most recently centered on Ostin Technology, a Chinese company traded on the Nasdaq that recently popped to over $9 per share before losing 95 percent of its value in a single day. While the company is a cautionary tale for investors, Greenberg's bigger warning involves similar frauds that spring up around other companies overnight — that are fueled by investor greed and AI-powered fakery — which he describes as nearly impossible to stop or end in what he calls "the golden age of grift." Financial adviser Anthony Holds discusses the latest release from Northwestern Mutual's 2025 Planning & Progress Study, which showed that nearly 70 percent of Americans say financial uncertainty makes them depressed and anxious. Plus, in the Market Call, Dryden Pence, chief investment officer at Pence Capital Management, talks about finding stocks that benefit from being at the chokepoints in the supply chain for the next big t
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Global X's Helfstein leans into defense tech and cybersecurity for back half of '25
01/07/2025 Duration: 59minScott Helfstein, head of investment strategy for Global X ETFs says the fundamentals are strong enough that the market and economy should be in better shape by year's end, provided the wildcards of tariffs and geopolitics don't interfere. Discussing his outlook for the rest of 2025, Helfstein expects different leadership, noting that he favors low-beta strategies, plus the defense technology and cyber-security sectors. Helfstein says that growth stocks are "more profitable than they have ever been," and says that investors who missed out on the artificial-intelligence boom can get in now at valuations that are reasonable because the industry had a recovery since April that was more sluggish than the rest of the market. Susan Fahy discusses the VantageScore Credit Gauge for May, which showed an increase in early-stage delinquencies, including in mortgages, and whether it's a sign that consumers are starting to struggle. Plus Matt Kaufman, head of ETFs for Calamos Investments, discusses the firm's new "autocall
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U.S. Bank's Haworth has a 'glass half-full view' on earnings, economy and markets
30/06/2025 Duration: 59minRob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management, says that the volatility and headline risks of the first half of 2025 haven't changed the outlook for the market and economy, which can grind through the rest of the year and into 2026 with modest gains. Haworth acknowledges "a lot of questions still to be answered," but he says that most of the answers will be within degrees of expectations, and a lack of surprises should allow the market to grind higher. That said, Haworth said investors will want to be properly diversified to protect themselves against the volatility and the news risks. David Trainer of New Constructs puts Carvana back in The Danger Zone, noting that the stock — which he first singled out in April of 2019 — has roared back from a low of $4 per share in December 22 to gain more than 50 percent year-to-date and nearly 150 percent in the last year, rising to a stock valuation "that implies that Carvana will sell as many vehicles as General Motors." Plus Greg McBride, chi
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Mackenzie's Reid expects a jumbo cut from the Fed in September
27/06/2025 Duration: 58minDustin Reid, chief strategist for fixed income at Mackenzie Investments, says he expects the Federal Reserve to hold off on rate cuts in July, but to be moved into making a double cut — half a percent — in September, and worries that the central bank may be waiting too long to act, as the labor market is starting to show some cracks. Reid said a bigger cut might be taken as a positive by the market if inflation hasn't spiked, labor markets are slow but steady and the action suggests that the Fed is trying to stay ahead of the action. That action and uncertainty has Reid favoring intermediate bonds now, with two- to five-year maturities. John Kosar, chief market strategist at Asbury Research, says he is risk-on right now, being fully invested and continuing to ride the wave that started churning after the stock market bottomed out in April. Kosar acknowledges that the market's rebound has been fast and big, and so he's expecting a reversion to the mean that would push him to a risk-off position, ahead of what
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Investors lower expectations from 'outrageous' to 'almost reasonable'
26/06/2025 Duration: 01h01minDavid Goodsell, executive director of the Natixis Center for Investor Insight, discusses the firm's 2025 Individual Investor Survey, which shows that investors were so satisfied with the 20-plus percent gains of 2023 and '24 that they are expecting less this year, but they have only dropped their expectations from roughly 17 percent down to about 12 percent, and Goodsell notes that financial advisers sugest those numbers aren't realistic or responsible. Goodsell says he believes the market is heading towards "a new age of diminished expectations." Sociologist and author Juliet Schor discusses her latest book, "Four Days a Week: The Life-Changing Solution for Reducing Employee Stress, Improving Well-Being, and Working Smarter, leaning into whether the business community and the government could ever adopt a massive workplace change on a broad scale. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, leans into current events to examine an advocacy fund with his ETF of the Week, and Chuck answers a listener's questi
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BNP Paribas' Morris says 'neutral' may be the best bet for this market
25/06/2025 Duration: 57minDaniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, says he sees continued expansion in the United States and a slowing in Europe and other international markets, which contributes to why he is mostly neutral on allocations, as tariff plays and international stimulus efforts and more creates positive potential around the globe. Morris says a neutral stance makes sense because there is so much uncertainty right now that it is hard to have strong convictions about what the market can do next. Indrani De, global head of investment research for FTSE Russell discusses the ongoing Russell Reconstitution — the exercise of changing benchmark indexes to reflect corporate evolutions and avoid surprises — and what the current effort (which becomes final on Friday) reveals about the stock market and the breadth of growth now. Plus Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst/Washington bureau chief at BankRate.com, discusses current levels of consumer sentiment which show that nearly two-thirds of Americans
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PGIM's Mintz says bargain hunters should look to emerging markets
24/06/2025 Duration: 59minStacie Mintz, head of quantitative equity for PGIM Quantitative Solutions, says that equity valuations in emerging markets are at their most attractive level relative to U.S. stocks in decades. That's not a surprise, as emerging markets have underperformed domestic markets for the last 13 years, but Mintz says the time has come for diversification to pay off. While the headline risks of tariffs, trade wars and geopolitics loom large,she said current values are compelling enough that investors should be comfortable waiting for a payoff when the news cycle calms down. Jasmine Escalera discusses a survey done by LiveCareer which showed that "ghost job postings" — listings for phantom jobs that don't exist — have become a staple of the hiring process for nearly half of all American human-resources pros. Plus Richard Howe, editor of the Stock Spin-off Investing newsletter, returns to the Market Call, talking about what can make spin-offs attractive, compares the roll-out of subsidiaries to the initial public offe
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Veteran manager Shill sees a complacent market facing big downside risks
23/06/2025 Duration: 58minEd Shill, managing partner at the Wealth Enhancement Group, says he sees the market either continuing to climb the proverbial wall of worry or getting complacent, and he fears that it's the latter after the sharp rebound from April's decline. "Right now the market is overbought," Shill says in the Market Call, where he recommends "putting airbags on," using stops to lock in profits and being prepared to step back from markets until conditions improve. In The Big Interview, Sam Millette, senior investment strategist at Commonwealth Financial Network, says that the Federal Reserve faces a challenge getting the market to understand its motivation for any rate cuts it makes later this year. He expects a rate cut later this year, likely in September, but he says the reaction of the market — whether it gives the classic bullish response or if it reacts as it did in 2024 when cuts had less impact than expected, particularly on bond markets — will depend on what the market thinks is the Fed's motivation for a cut. Pl
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Invesco's Levitt: Expect lower earnings, higher volatility and modest market gains
20/06/2025 Duration: 56minBrian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco, says that he came into the year expecting that the growth and inflation backdrop would support reasonable corporate earnings that could push the market higher. He still believes that -- despite expecting a slowdown, struggles with increased market volatility and higher inflation as a result of tariff impacts -- and said that modest earnings growth will result in single-digit equity gains for the rest of the year. Levitt made the case for expanded international investments, but said he would lean into quality as a factor, noting that high-grade companies will give the most shelter if the storm clouds deliver more trouble than Levitt and Invesco are currently forecasting. Certified financial therapist Nate Astle discusses a Beyond Finance study which showed the deep connections between financial strain and emotional well-being, suggesting that money isn't just a numbers game but a mental-health issue. Plus John Cole Scott, president of Closed-End Fund Advisors,
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NY Life's Hermann: 'We have a lot of risk and almost none of that is priced in'
18/06/2025 Duration: 54minJulia Hermann, global market strategist at New York Life Investments, says she is concerned about market volatility for the remainder of the year, especially as tariff impacts work their way further into the economy and as we see some resolution on their status. While tariffs pose the risk of creating an exogenous shock — precisely what Hermann worried about triggering a recession when she last visited the show in February — she says that recession risk now is actually lower than it was when trade policies were made public in early April. She also discusses the firm's 2025 MegaTrends report, which looks at global debt investing, talking about how deficit spending and other concerns will impact credit markets over the next decade. Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com, checks in ahead of today's Fed meeting and announcement on what he expects from central bankers for the remainder of the year and whether cuts — whenever they start — will have the classic result investors are clamoring for. Plu
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Wells Fargo's Christopher expects market, economic pullbacks through the end of '25
17/06/2025 Duration: 58minIt's a tale of two forecasts on today's edition of Money Life, as two experts come to very different conclusions of how 2025 will play out. In The Big Interview, Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute says he expects the market to drop "5 to 10 percent easily" as tariffs, accompanying inflation and a slowing economy take hold during the third quarter and stick around for at least six months. Christopher notes that surprises could push the market down even further, back to or past April lows, but he noted that he'd be buying there, because he believes the United States was oversold early this year and will represent a particularly good value once it digests the expected downturn. In the Talking Technicals interview, however, Matt Fox, president of Ithaca Wealth Management, sets a 7000 target for the Standard & Poor's 500, up about 20 percent from current levels in the next 12 months. Fox says the sell-off in April did a lot of the "technical damage" ne