Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

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...

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 sol...

It's Day Two of Money Life at Morningstar, featuring interviews from the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago. One of the themes of this year's event has been the rise and fall and rebirth of 60-40 portfolios and Catherine LeGraw, partner at GMO, takes the side that the default allocation is too blunt to work for everyone, leaving them with too much risk which ultimately short-circuits the...

It's Money Life at Morningstar, the first of three days of interviews from the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago. Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab and Co., says that the market appears to be banking on a near-term recession, in which it takes the pain and the ill-tasting medicine, thereby allowing the Federal Reserve to take its foot off the economic brake....

Perth Tolle, founder of Life and Liberty Indexes -- the basis for the Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF -- says that companies based in countries run by autocrats are held back in many different ways, not the least of which is that they must compete for the favor of the government and the people in power, rather than being able to focus on serving the market and customers, and that investors who wa...

Simeon Hyman, global investment strategist at ProShares , says that investors are tempted in today's high-inflation environment to pursue stocks with high-but-fixed dividends, trying to generate any sort of positive real return. Instead, Hyman says investors should be looking for dividend growers -- companies consistently raising payouts -- rather than high current yields, because a stock with a d...

Que Nguyen, chief investment officer of equity strategies at  Research Affiliates , says that the high probability of an upcoming recession is being priced into the market, and the more a downturn gets priced into stocks, the less investors have to fear because the damage is being done in advance. As a result, she says investors need to be looking for the inflection point where they want to buy in...

Jake Jolly, head of investment analysis at BNY Mellon Investment Management , says that recent turmoil in the banking industry 'will do the additional work' of tightening credit conditions to get inflation down, but creating a recession in the process, with the downturn taking hold late this year or in 2024. Because this recession is 'a typical, monetary-policy induced recession,' Jolly expects th...

James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Sierra Investment Management , says that we are looking at 'unusually uncertain times given what the market is trying to process right now,' specifically how the increased cost of credit and the decreased availability of credit will work its way through the economy. St. Aubin -- who uses a quantitative, tactical approach -- says the market could go in a...

Terri Spath, chief investment officer at Zuma Wealth , says that investors should be looking for ways to play a slowing economy and a light recession, and she says that international stocks are likely to outperform U.S. stocks while that plays out. She also is adding to domestic fixed-income exposure with both Treasuries and high-yield corporates, noting that the latter is an asset class she would...

Jeffrey Hirsch, editor-in-chief of the Stock Traders' Almanac , discusses 'calendar effects' -- the traditional 'Sell in May and go away; buy in October to get yourself sober' strategy that may not kick in this year until as late as June, but which should involve avoiding the worst of the year and a lot of market softness but no recession. Hirsch notes that since World War II the market has made m...

Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones , says that the economy is headed for a mild recession likely to hit home during the second half of 2023, but she notes that last year's big drop in the stock market did a lot of work to the downside, and while the market's hot start to this year means there is room for more back-sliding, she thinks those declines are mostly buying opportu...

Harin De Silva, manager of the Allspring U.S. Long/Short Equity , says that there are a lot of companies 'priced for perfection in a slowing economy in a slowing global business cycle,' creating a big opportunity for investors who are shorting stocks, betting that they will fall in price. De Silva says that the long side of his job -- finding stocks to buy -- is challenging, and he notes that his...

Craig Callahan, chief executive officer at ICON Advisers , says that the stock market is close to its fair value right now, but that 'the expensive industries the way we measure value are leading and the bargains are lagging and very sluggish,' a situation that is unsustainable and that will lead to volatile, choppy, sideways markets for the next few months. Callahan says he is holding more cash t...

Zach Jonson, senior portfolio manager at Stack Financial Management , says there are 'so many different headwinds' facing the market that 'we feel we're not quite through this yet.' He says that macro-level indicators are suggesting that the market will either re-test prior lows or set new ones, noting that current conditions suggest that there are enough positive indicators that investors should...

Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott , says the market's wild swings after its hot start are the kind of action investors will have to put up with until the market sees inflation start to give way and confidence grows that the Federal reserve has made real progress. That said, he expects a recession this year but notes that the economy is lacking the conditions th...

Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. says investors should minimize portfolio moves — mostly to place a slightly greater emphasis on bonds — as they won't be waiting long to see a mild recession lead to a reasonably robust recovery. Schutte expects small-cap companies and international investments to be among the leading group, with large stocks suff...

Alan Gayle, president of ViaNova Investment Management , says that positive economic fundamentals are being tempered and offset by higher inflation and interest rates, giving investors a laundry list of concerns over growth and the stock market, but he notes that the bond market is looking more like its old self than it has in years, giving investors asset allocation choices that will help them ri...

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management , says a mild recession is coming, and he is diversifying internationally as part of his moves to deal with it, noting that international markets not only have valuation advantages against their U.S. counterparts, but as a currency play, noting that a rally in the yen or the Euro would create a tailwind for investors. In The Book I...

Fritz Folts, chief investment strategist at 3EDGE Asset Management , says he is doubtful that the market's current rally can go on for too much longer, and when he sees profit levels decline it will be time to lighten up on equities and buckle up for a recession and downturn. In The Big Interview, he says the firm is diversifying and nimble, with real assets, TIPs and other fixed-income securities...

Carley Garner, senior commodity strategist at DeCarley Trading , says that 'people are way underallocated,' nervously sitting in cash and Treasuries while waiting for market troubles to play out, but when those investors get FOMO -- a fear of missing out -- and the money starts flowing back into investments, it will lift both the stock and bond markets. DeGarner expects a big comeback in 60-40 por...

Brian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco, says the current troubles with the banking industry and the market's struggles with inflation are  setting the stage for a new cycle, noting that if inflation comes down and the Fed backs away from its stance it typically will improve conditions for investors. Levitt notes that investors are wondering whether the current situation looks like the 1...

Whitney Tilson, chief executive officer at Empire Financial Research , says that while headlines are driving investors to distraction, the stock market right now is neither too hot nor too cold. Other than regional banks, he says there's no blood in the streets, the market 'isn't screaming cheap or hugely overvalued either,' making this a time for investors to grind it out and work on their holdin...

Steven Dover, chief market strategist at Franklin Templeton and head of the Franklin Templeton Institute, expects a modest recession where investors can benefit from riding it out with a greater exposure to fixed income and a more-balanced portfolio, but he also notes that there are plenty of worrisome wildcards that could impact the market and economy. Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist a...

Charles Rotblut, editor of AAII Journal, says the last 15 months have shown a persistent lack of bullish sentiment, with roughly 20 of the 70 lowest readings ever for optimism in the American Association of Individual Investors sentiment survey , a weekly poll that dates back to 1987. Likewise, bearishness has been near record levels consistently. Rotblut notes that the survey did not show this ki...