What Goes Up

A few dots moved higher on a Federal Reserve chart of interest rate projections, and it caught many investors by surprise. Yet the hawkish turn tamped down market-based readings of inflation expectations and that could help the central bank keep stimulative policies in place longer, according to Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. He discusses th...

What generation will drive the consumer economy and create stock-market winners in the post-pandemic world? Lauren Hill, a portfolio manager and analyst at Westwood Holdings Group Inc., says it will be a boom led by Baby Boomers, who have the most wealth and high vaccination rates. She discusses where consumer spending is headed and what stocks are poised to benefit the most.  Mentioned in this po...

They’re baaaaack! Day-trader cult stocks like AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. are dominating investors’ attention once again, with eye-popping rallies and crashes and even some free popcorn thrown in for those with the gumption to ride the rollercoaster. Kevin Russell, the chief investment officer of the $9 billion hedge-fund manager UBS O’Connor, discusses how his team tries to stay a million mil...

Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors in London, discusses the state of the global economy and why the equity rally seems to have hit the snooze button. The U.S. has reached “peak recovery” following the pandemic, she says, yet fundamentals remain strong so cyclical and financial stocks should continue doing well.  Mentioned in this podcast: RETHINK THE 40 IN YOUR 60-40 PORTFO...

For years, cryptocurrencies were considered fringe investments on Wall Street, but this week a massive intraday plunge in Bitcoin corresponded with a big drop in the stock market. Has crypto contagion arrived in the financial system? Art Hogan, chief strategist at National Securities, discusses this, and reminisces about the crash of 1987 when he found himself knee-deep in ticker tape at the old B...

A shockingly high reading in the consumer price index landed with a bang in markets this week. Zachary Griffiths, a macro strategist with Wells Fargo, joined the “What Goes Up” podcast to discuss what inflation pressures he’s got his eye on and why he doesn’t think the latest numbers will cause the Federal Reserve to begin tapering its pace of asset purchases before the beginning of next year.   ...

Vincent Deluard, director of global macro strategy at the brokerage StoneX Group, discusses how Mexico and Canada may be primed to benefit from the continued reopening of the U.S. economy following the pandemic. Mentioned in this podcast: Did Capitalism Kill Inflation? Space Aged: Bottle of Wine from Space Station Could Sell for $1 Million See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg Jensen, the co-chief investment officer for the hedge-fund manager Bridgewater Associates, discusses this week’s Federal Reserve meeting and the firm’s approach to identifying excesses and bubbles in financial markets. Mentioned in this podcast: Fed Upgrades View of Economy While Keeping Rates Near Zero Powell Breaks Out the ‘Froth’ Word When Asked About Markets See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, joined the latest episode of the “What Goes Up” podcast to discuss what appears to be a shift in focus among the crowds of new day traders who were so influential in the U.S. stock market earlier this year. Says Sonders: “Really since mid-February, we've seen a shift — believe it or not — back toward some semblance of fundamentals dri...

Economic growth in 2021 is forecast to be unlike anything seen in the last several decades as the world begins to return to normal following the Covid-19 pandemic. Gaurav Mallik, chief portfolio strategist at State Street Global Advisors, joins the latest “What Goes Up” podcast to discuss what to expect and how he’s advising investors to allocate portfolios.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

He was one of the first money managers to deploy factor-investing strategies at his firm Gerstein Fisher, but now Gregg Fisher is trying something new: A quantitative approach to picking stocks of innovative small-cap companies at his new shop Quent Capital. Fisher joined this week’s “What Goes Up” podcast to discuss why he’s shifting to a more-active style of investing and how, despite his subseq...

The swift rise in Treasury yields that triggered some wild swings in the stock market stopped this week – at least temporarily. Shawn Snyder, the head of investment strategy at Citi Personal Wealth Management, joins the “What Goes Up” podcast to discuss what caused yields to cool off and what to expect next.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Financial markets have become obsessed with the possibility of faster-than-normal inflation this year as economies reopen from Covid lockdowns. But inflation is a nuanced concept, so what different types of price rises should we expect? And most importantly, what does it all mean for markets in 2021? Joining the "What Goes Up" podcast this week to discuss this and other timely market topics is Phi...

A few decades ago, nobody really questioned vaccines. They were viewed as a standard part of staying healthy and safe. Today, the number of people questioning vaccines risks prolonging a pandemic that has already killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. How we got to this moment didn’t start with the rollout of vaccines or in March 2020, or even with the election of Donald Trump. Our confidence...

Bond yields are rising, commodity prices are jumping, and stock markets around the globe are soaring. To David Adams, the chief investment officer at Reminiscent Capital, it all adds up to a single message: Central banks around the world have just gone too far. Based in Sydney, Australia, Adams discusses the implications. Mentioned in this podcast: An NFT Sold for $69 Million, Blasting Crypto Art...

More than 150 years after the end of slavery in the U.S., the net worth of a typical white family is nearly six times greater than that of the average Black family. Season 3 of The Pay Check digs into into how we got to where we are today and what can be done to narrow the yawning racial wealth gap in the U.S. Jackie Simmons and Rebecca Greenfield co-host the season, which kicks off with a persona...

The flattening of the Covid case curve and the re-opening of economies around the world is causing big ripples in the stock market, with investors selling off the Internet-based companies that led the market higher during lockdown. Susan Schmidt, head of U.S. equities at Aviva Investors in Chicago, discusses this and other hot topics for investors, including the recent jump in interest rates. Ment...

The surge in Treasury yields this week caught a lot of investors off-guard, triggering a bout of volatility in the stock market. Amanda Agati, chief investment strategist for PNC Financial Services Group, shares how government spending packages are affecting interest rates. She also discusses how she looks at alternative high-frequency economic data and why she’s bullish on emerging markets. Menti...

Marko Papic, partner and chief strategist at hedge-fund seeder Clocktower Group, discusses how the current economic and market cycle will be vastly different than the tepid recovery from the global financial crisis. He jokingly uses slogans from Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum to describe the risk-taking posture he believes investors will maintain amid a period of fiscal largesse: “All I know is tha...

The dislocations in markets last year created a fleeting opportunity to buy stocks that pay big dividends on the cheap. Sorting through which companies had the wherewithal to weather the pandemic and keep the payments flowing was not an easy feat, however, given the unprecedented economic shutdown and uncertainty about how long the virus would affect various types of businesses. Joining this week’...

Like a lot of parents these days, Cameron Crise is dealing with a teenager at home who wants to get into day-trading and reap the type of the windfalls boasted about by the WallStreetBets crowd. Crise, a former hedge-fund trader and now a strategist at Bloomberg who writes the “Macro Man” column, had a novel way of handling the situation. Inspired by the classic movie “Trading Places,” he proposed...

The drama surrounding GameStop Corp. and other high-flying stocks targeted by social media-influenced traders has triggered a debate about behavior in markets and what regulators should do about it. Larry Tabb, the head of market-structure research at Bloomberg Intelligence, discusses this issue as well as the role clearing firms played in causing Robinhood and other brokerages to restrict trading...

Why does Tesla joining the S&P 500 remind Wells Fargo Securities’ head of equity strategy of AOL and the dot-com boom and bust era? He also explains why he’s sticking with his year-end estimate of 3,850 for the S&P 500 even after the benchmark index reached that level in the first month of the year. Mentioned in this podcast: GameStop Record Surge Gives Win to Reddit Army in Citron Clash R...

The upcoming inauguration of Joe Biden as president offers the U.S. a chance to reboot its relationship with China after a tumultuous four years under Donald Trump. Bob Hormats of investment firm Tiedemann Advisors, who has served in senior economic and trade policy roles under five different U.S. presidents, discusses what’s at stake.  Mentioned in this podcast: A Handful of Penny Stocks Just Mad...

Another week, another record high for stocks – even in the midst of political unrest. Vincent Deluard, director of global macro strategy at StoneX Group Inc., discusses the disconnect between stocks and reality, a so-called “bear market for humans,” his outlook for 2021, and the risk of inflation. Mentioned in this podcast: Stock Market Warns Workers That They’re the Problem for Business Day-Trade...