Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Allison Schrager, author of 'An Economist Walks Into a Brothel ... ' joins Chuck in a discussion about risk and how poorly most people evaluate is when it comes to decisions. Also, Tom Lydon of ETFTrends.com has the ETF of the Week, Terry Jones of Investor's Business Daily discusses how investor optimism turned away from peak levels in May, Michael Gayed of The Lead-Lag Report gives his technical...

Michael DiCecco, an asset finance expert with Huntington Commercial Bank, is worried that the transportation and trucking sector could be headed for a recession, and if that sector slows down, it has the potential to lead the rest of the economy into a downturn. Also on the show, Jeremiah Riethmiller and Steve Tresnan of HighTower Advisors discuss very different ways to use fixed-income as an equi...

Cam Harvey, senior advisor to Research Affiliates and Duke University professor, said that the inverted yield curve model that he discovered -- and which has correctly called major recessions dating back through history -- is poised to trigger at the end of June, a sign that recession is about 12 months off. Also on the show, Chuck takes a question about insurance, Jason Hargraves of InsuranceQuot...

Michael Mullaney, director of global markets research at Boston Partners, said that he expects the Federal Reserve to make one rate cut before the year is over, a move that he expects will help to drive the market higher, but despite that potential move to the upside, he recommended that investors get increasingly defensive, looking for high-quality names with stronger balance sheets. Also on the...

Dan Zanger of ChartPattern.com said that while he sees plenty of weakness and many bearish technical indicators, he believes the market is headed up barring some sort of significant interest-rate policy or political change. Zanger said he expects the Standard and Poor's 500 to reach 3,300 by year's end, after just barely holding at its current support level of roughly 2,800. Also on the show, Jaso...

Sandy Rufenacht of the Aquila Three Peaks High Income Fund, said that a flat credit quality curve -- one that seems to be confusing real junk from safer high-yielding investments -- could turn dangerous if the stock market and the economy get into trouble. He warned that investors need to temper their expectations in high-yield bonds, and prepare for potential trouble ahead. Also on the show, Chuc...

Janet Brown, chief executive at the FundX Investment Group and publisher of the No-Load FundX newsletter, said in the Market Call that fundamentals 'still look decent,' which has meant that the market has only started to move away from the large-cap growth story that has driven the bull run towards more defensive funds, value-oriented funds and small- and mid-cap funds, but she expects that trend...

Chuck tackles an audience question about a purported retirement investment pitched as a 7702 plan and he points out why this insurance contract generally is a bad idea for consumers, how it is sold in misleading ways and why it's not all that it's cracked up to be. He also talks with author Ken Honda, whose new book 'Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace With Your Money' is out today, disc...

Lacy Hunt, chief economist at Hoisington Investment Management, said that both the domestic and global economies are becoming increasingly frail, raising the risk of recession occurring sooner rather than later. He fears that slower growth will not be able to sustain positive momentum, noting that too many key economic indicators are showing danger signs. Also on the show, Greg McBride of Bankrate...

Kristina Hooper, global market strategist for Invesco, said that while she does think the market is facing potential troubles as the economy slows down, she does not anticipate either a recession or a bear market now, just because the market has pulled away from recent highs. Also on the show, Benjamin Bailey of the Praxis Impact Bond Fund said investors should not be stretching for yield right no...

Larry McDonald, publisher of The Bear Traps Report, said that he is expecting a bear market in the next six months, with the market falling by 15 to 25 percent during a downturn, noting that he does believe the decline could end with a recovery occurring during the election season next year. Mike Larson of Weiss Ratings -- editor of that firm's Safe Money Report -- said in the Market Call that he,...

Charles Biderman, founder of Trim Tabs Investment Research, said that many of the conditions that have kept the market happy and frothy during the latter stages of the bull run are now mostly mirages, creating the potential for a major correction that he could see happening despite 2020 being an election year. Also on the show, it's May 29 -- the day to celebrate 529 college-savings plans -- and C...

In a wide-ranging show, Chuck chats with Dawn Gilbertson of USA Today about discount airlines and whether they are worth flying, chats with Robert Frick of Navy Federal Credit Union about the potential for recession before the presidential election, answers an audience question about couponing, and discusses brand-name stocks with Eric Clark of the Rational Brands fund.

J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said investors need to be worried about trade and tariff wars, should not forget about Brexit fallout and should be wary of the domestic market, but he still believes the current bull market has some room to run and that it remains the best place to search for strong returns. Kinahan appeared after Zach jonson of Stack Financial Management, w...

Craig Callahan, president of the ICON Funds, said that his measures show the current domestic stock market as standing roughly 9 percent below fair value, which translates into the market having that much room to grow roughly over the next year. Callahan said that financial stocks are the best bargains now, along with industrials and consumer discretionary issues. Also on the show, Tom Lydon of ET...

Crit Thomas, global market strategist for Touchstone Investments, said that record profit margins for many companies here in the United States -- plus declining GDP growth -- raise questions on what kind of upside the domestic stock market has, so while he expects it to continue moving up modestly, he noted that investors seeking higher returns should look to emerging markets. Also on the show, th...

Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management said that the market's daily ups and downs wind up looking like a straight line when investors back away and look at them through a long lens, rather than focusing on the daily news. With that in mind, he suggested tuning out the daily headlines on China and tariff wars, focusing on big-picture factors like economic growth and anticipating a market that can...

David Trainer of New Constructs said that investors might want to consider rotating away from small-cap growth stocks and funds because the space is over-run with unattractive stocks. In the 'Danger Zone' segment, Trainer noted that less than 10 small-cap growth funds -- and very few individual stocks too -- are earning his firm's very attractive rating, with the entire space of the market overpri...

Two technical analysts -- Jim Welsh of Smart Portfolios and Avi Gilburt of Elliott Wave Trader -- said they expect the market to have a corrective rally from here, only to then fall to where the Standard and Poor's 500 is in the 2,600 range. Both suggested selling into rallies and becoming more defensive, and said it looks like gold is bottoming out and could be worth buying soon, though Gilburt u...

James Abate, chief investment officer at the Centre Funds, said that conditions exist right now which could justify a correction of as much as 30 percent, but he noted that because market valuations are a big part of those dangerous conditions, any big decline is likely to be a long-term buying opportunity, as the strong underlying economy should ultimately keep the market buoyant. Moreover, while...

Alan Gayle of Via Nova Investment Management said he does not expect the trade and tariff battles between the US and China to derail the market for the long haul, but he noted that the market will keep taking no more than two steps forward with one step backwards for as long as it is in the headlines. Meanwhile, Jake Falcon and David Hartness of HighTower Advisors discussed their big investment th...

Karl Mills of Jurika, Mills and Kiefer said that Monday's losses should not have investors worried so long as they have properly adjusted their time horizons, and he said he expects most investors to realize down the line that whatever move the market is making now is forgotten short-term noise. Also on the show, Leo Leydon of Financial Focus Advisory Services said he expects the market to hold at...

It's another banner line-up of experts from the Morningstar Investment Conference, as Chuck talks to Kari Droller from Charles Schwab, deep-value manager Amit Wadwhanney from Moerus Capital, alternatives expert Josh Vail of 361 Capital, Brian Milligan from Ave Maria Growth fund, quantitative analyst Joe Mallen of Helios, income specialist Bryce Fegley of Sextant global High Income, muni-bond manag...

A colossal lineup from the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago features Judy Ward of T. Rowe Price, Mona Mahajan of Allianz Global Investors on the markets, Alex Pire of Seeyond talking minimum-volatility investing, Beini Zhou of Matthews Asia Value discussing his reaction to recent presidential tweets about trade wars, Ira Rothberg of Hennessy Focus Fund on valuations and patience, Jeff...

On the first day of interviews from the Morningstar Investment Conference, Chuck covered a wide range of subjects with five different experts, highlighted by Brian Levitt of OppenheimerFunds, who was bullish on the domestic and emerging markets, but realistic about the upcoming election year posing potential problems. Still, he noted that investors should not be swayed by election-related news, as...