Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

Daniel Morris, chief investment strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, is expecting the economy and the stock market to continue to roll forward in 2026 but says he would like to see "not such a great year," because his primary worry for the year ahead is "too much of a good thing" that leads the economy to overheat. If that occurs, Morris said, higher inflation and consumers' response to it could change conditions quickly. Morris thinks growth can be solid without going too far, delivering modest growth with volatility due more to conditions like geopolitics than market sentiment. Jason Browne, president of Alexis Investment Partners and manager of the Alexis Practical Tactical ETF — a fund-of-funds that invests in exchange-traded funds — discusses why his style favors momentum investing and gives his outlook on international stocks, gold, mega-caps and more in the Market Call. Erika Rasure, chief financial wellness advisor for Beyond Finance discusses the site's 2025 holiday survey which found that nea

George Bory, chief investment strategist for fixed income at Allspring Global Investments, says inflation is "stuck" at around 3% despite efforts to shrink it, leaving the Federal Reserve struggling with policy decisions as the Trump Administration positions current levels as acceptable. He's expecting the Fed to cut rates once in 2026, toward the middle of the year, and says the market seems accepting, or resigned, to that. As a result, however, he says this is not a time for "set it and forget it" investment styles in fixed income, noting that the opportunities are changing with the shape of the yield curve today. Jeffrey Bierman, chief strategist at Genesis Cog and chief market technician for TheoTrade.com, says the market has already seen its Santa Claus rally, from the end of Thanksgiving to the end of last week, leaving little room for upside into the end of the year and into 2026. For the new year, Bierman sees a protracted period of sideways markets before things turn positive for the end of the year,

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, says that "Bull markets don't die of old age, they die of fright, and what they are most afraid of is recession." But he says the current bull market not only doesn't need to be too worried about recession yet, he says that after celebrating its third birthday, it has gotten into the rarified air of a market that can keep running and producing positive results for longer. While he is not expecting a big, double-digit year in 2026 for the stock market, he says modest gains — tempered by heightened volatility and a downturn or two to overcome — are likely. In "The Danger Zone," David Trainer, president at New Constructs, revisits three past picks that outperformed as shorts but which then got the actual benefits of "stupid money risk" — something he discusses nearly every week on the show — as they were bought out by private equity firms in deals that bailed out some shareholders, but which says will not be enough to save bad businesses. Plus, Vijay Mar

Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates, says that history has shown that nearly every new Federal Reserve chairman does "something dumb" when they first get the job. With Jerome Powell soon to be out as Fed chair, Doty says the central bank is in a tricky place, where it could make a cut before the change and have the next chairman come in anxious to cut further, making a policy mistake that hurts the market, but creates buying opportunities for investors willing to ride it out. He's not the only one on today's show fearful of a Fed mistake, as that is the nightmare scenario for Dustin Reid, chief investment strategist at Mackenzie Investments, who says in the Big Interview that the economy has gotten to a point where further moves forward may have some negative impacts, hurting credit markets, raising more potential for a downturn and recession and, generally, not providing the classic economic boosts that frequently drive the markets higher.  In the "Talking Technicals" interview,

Dan Fuss, vice chairman at Loomis Sayles & Co., now 92 years old and having cemented a track record as one of the best bond fund managers ever, says he's not concerned about a recession because the economy is strong, and in some ways stronger than its ever been during his investing lifetime, but he also compares current times to the late 1930s, a period when geopolitics were dominating the global scene building up to World War II, and says that he is more concerned with those macro-level worries than he has been in his career. Fuss notes that the global scene is more important to what happens next with the U.S. economy than even what the Federal Reserve does, and he quells concerns over pressure on the Fed to cut rates by noting that "every president" wants the central bank to lower interest rates. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, makes the Victory Shares Free Cash Flow Growth ETF his "ETF of the Week," noting that it's a relatively new fund focused on quality that has outperformed the market

Ben McMillan, chief investment officer at IDX Advisors, says that "gold's run is not over," and while he thinks it could easily reach $5,000 an ounce in the short order, he says "It's not inconceivable that within the next half-decade, gold could be sitting at $10,000 an ounce." (Gold is currently trading at roughly $4,225 an ounce.) He also says he expects the Federal Reserve to reach a point in the next 12 to 24 months where it lives "with a new normal of inflation" and resets its target inflation rate to reflect different thinking, which will mean consumers and investors have to adjust to inflation rates running at 3 percent or higher for the foreseeable future.    Amanda Agati, chief investment officer at PNC Asset Management Group discusses the company's Christmas Price Index, which looks at the current cost of giving your true love all of the gifts from the "12 Days of Christmas." Thanks to higher prices with gold -- and the five golden rings -- it's no surprise that the rate of inflation shown in the c

Scott Brown, Chief Strategist at Brown Technical Insights, is wondering "if the market is sniffing out something," because he has seen a change in the last month on the sectors that are now leading the way forward, and it's not the same things that were leading just a few months ago. Brown notes that banks, transportation, global materials, steel and copper stocks are among the areas that now have taken market leadership, and he says that "there's real upside" to where they can drive the market close to a level of 7,000 on the Standard & Poor's 500 by year's end. A day after discussing the market broadly, Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of the Stock Traders Almanac, returns to the show to discuss the Almanac itself for 2026, noting how the old technology of an almanac still has a place in helping to shape forecasts and expectations because it is built on decades of data that remains relevant, even in a world seemingly dominated by the changing technologies of artificial intelligence. David Rosenstrock, director of

Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of the Stock Traders Almanac, says that artificial intelligence is creating a "super boom," because it's a "culturally-enabling, paradigm-shifting technology," which he says can drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average to 62,000 — up about 30% from current levels — in just a few years. Hirsch, also the chief executive of Hirsch Holdings, also discusses calendar and seasonal impacts on the market and how he expects a Santa Claus rally this year, but what it means if the market misses out. Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, debuts as Money Life's newest regular in a segment called "The Week That Is," which provides one takeway from the market and economic news of the week just finished, the thing to watch out for in the week ahead and one take looking further forward. This week, Vijay focuses on the Netflix-Warner Brothers Discovery deal, how precious metals will respond to a rate cut and move forward and what parents should consider about the new Trump Accounts

Brandon Thurber, chief market strategist at Regions Asset Management, says climbing the proverbial wall of worry has "supercharged the market," making it hard "to find reasons to be anything less than positive and constructive for 2026." While he worries that the message could be that "The only thing you have to fear is fear itself" — and he describes in The Big Interview the real fears that he feels could blossom into problems — he doesn't expect conditions to change much from 2025, and is mostly encouraged about domestic and international markets. Ken Berman, strategist at Gorilla Trades, says that he'd be foolish to say that now is a great time to buy after three strong years, but he believes the path of least resistance for the market is to go higher, and that's what he thinks will carry the current rally well into the new year. Like Thurber, Berman says he wouldn't want to get in the way of the market right now, and makes it clear that while there are reasons to be nervous he "wouldn't want to be short h

Joel Litman, founder/chief investment officer at Altimetry Research, says that investor worries about valuations are overblown because "good data" shows that current conditions are more like the mid-1990s — the middle of a bull market — than 2000 when the Internet bubble burst. He says in the Market Call that with real core earnings growing for a lot of companies, valuations are still reasonable, which is why he says current conditions make for a screaming bull market with several years where it can keep running before investors should get worried and nervous. Brad Neuman, senior vice president/director of market strategy for Alger, says in The Big Interview that if technology spending in artificial intelligence had been removed, the economy would have gone through a recession in the first half of the year, but that also means that a lot of the pressures from a downturn have passed. With the AI boom in "the very early innings," he sees the economy strengthening next year bringing the stock market to higher le

Steve Rick, chief economist at TruStage, says he expects inflation to rise to roughly 3.2 percent early in 2026, and says that increase — a long-awaited after-effect of tariffs — to mute the impact of interest rate cuts and other policies. Still, he stopped short of calling for a recession, noting that he thinks the market can overcome extremely high valuations to move forward modestly. He does think the economy may be moving into a period where it supports flat or slow growth for several years, but said it can avoid a crash or a bubble popping if it can avoid nightmare scenarios that he says currently look more hypothetical than threatening. Kerry Pechter, editor and publisher at Retirement Income Journal, discusses his recent piece on what he calls "The Private Credit Instability Hypothesis," which looks at how the growing popularity of private-credit investments could be setting up a future fall akin to the subprime mortgage situation that presaged the Great Financial Crisis. Pechter is concerned that insu

Indrani De, head of global investment research at FTSE Russell, says that there are tailwinds in place — from currency fluctuations, valuations and geopolitical changes — that make developed markets outside of the United States look particularly promising for next year. She says in The Big Interview that correlations between domestic and international markets have been greatly reduced in the last two years, which raises the benefits of diversification, and she suggests that spreading money around will pay off in both returns and in lowering portfolio risk, particularly if spending and investing in artificial intelligence slows and stops masking other market weakness.  David Blanchett, head of retirement research at Prudential, discusses the firm's 2025 Global Retirement Pulse Survey, which showed that mass affluent investors around the world feel ready for retirement, but that — perhaps because of their wealth — they haven't actually taken action to ensure that they're properly prepared. This lack of preparat

Sonia Fraher, head of cash management at Vanguard says that while nearly three-quarters of Americans say they will fall short of their saving and spending resolutions for this year, most are optimistic that they can pull off a "resolution rebound" in 2026. Vanguard's survey research showed that 84 percent of Americans expect to make a financial resolution for 2026, with building the emergency fund being the most common goal. In honor of the holidays, David Trainer of New Constructs revisits the Damger Zone pick he is most thankful for this year, due to its success as a short pick.  Rob Williams, managing director of financial planning for Charles Schwab, discusses the firm's research showing that two-thirds of Americans believe they must look beyond traditional investment products like stocks and bonds to further diversify and succeed in today's market. More than 40 percent think the classic 60/40 portfolio is outdated. Plus, Jake Cousineau, author of "Face Your Financial Fears: The Simple Guide to Fixing You

It's a day for talking smart holiday shopping, and the show takes that focus to the investment world. John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors — the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance — is back on Black Friday for the fourth straight year looking for big discounts among closed-end fund, and he's got several names that might work for investors looking to make portfolio changes before year's end. He offers up two ideas for municipal-bond funds, two business-development companies and two direct offerings that the market has put on sale and that investors might want to consider wrapping up for their portfolios. Sarah Foster, economic analyst at Bankrate.com, discusses the site's 2025 Holiday Essentials Index, which found that more than 75% of holiday staples have gotten more expensive since September 2024, which may mean that what is coming home for the holidays this year is inflation. Erik Beguin, founder, Fort Knox Bank, discusses how consumers who think they are protected by one-time codes an

Tom Stringfellow, chief investment strategist at Argent Trust, says that he expects stock market volatility to increase, especially as the Federal Reserve makes fewer cuts than observers are hoping for, but he doesn't see "a worrisome correction, I just see market testing." Those tests will break some trends in sectors and industries, but shouldn't break the market's ability to post modest gains. In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday being the real start of the holiday shopping season, Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, picks a retail-themed fund as his "ETF of the Week." Sara Enright, senior director of safety and sustainability at Consumer Reports, discusses CR's recently proposed homeowners insurance bill of rights, and points out some of the basics that consumers should know -- but typically don't -- about their policies that insurers often don't disclose because rules don't force them to speak up. Plus, Chuck talks about some things he is thankful for this Thanksgiving, noting that he has had a

Marta Norton, chief investment strategist at Empower, says the stock market has high valuations, but notes that it lacks the excessive economic risk-taking and the fear-of-missing-out sentiment that are necessary to create true bubble conditions. But she notes that avoiding a bubble doesn;t mean it's smooth sailing ahead, as she says in Empower's outlook for 2026 that she expects anemic job growth to be a primary economic story. That jobs picture puts the Federal Reserve "between a rock and a hard place and maybe a third hard place," with the labor market making it tough for the central bank to cut rates. As a result, she's suggesting that investors rebalance portfolios, downplay their expectations and anticipate heightened volatility. Julius de Kempenaer, senior technical analyst at StockCharts, says that the market currently is going through a rotation to where "Right now, defense is the play," with money moving to health care, utilities and consumer staples, all defensive sectors. He is expecting the next

Amar Reganti, fixed income strategist at the Hartford Funds, says "The uncertainty is real," over the potential not only for what the Federal Reserve could do but how the market and economy will respond to whatever decision gets made. Reganti says investors are facing the prospect of rate cuts spurring higher inflation, but a lack of action resulting in a tougher employment market and that both outcomes could make things a lot scarier and nerve-wracking than they are now. Rachel Perez discusses a BestMoney.com survey showing two-thirds of consumers say they lose more money paying annual fees on credit cards than they gain from the benefits and perks on those premium cards. David Trainer, president at New Constructs, puts meals-delivery company DoorDash back into the Danger Zone, noting that recent strong results and a big bounce in the price are masking the real trouble that still exists in the balance sheet and that will eventually result in a much lower share price for the stock.  In the Market Call, Martin

Zach Jonson, senior portfolio manager at Stack Financial Management, says the stock market is facing a trifecta of bear-market risks that could lead to "one of the great bear markets of our lifetime," with losses surpassing 40 percent and lasting for as long as 18 months when it finally bursts. Despite that, he says there are ways to "invest through it," and that's precisely what he is doing, because despite bubble conditions, there are pockets of value and there could still be a lot of market upside until the inevitable pop of this balloon. But the talk starts today with an interview recorded at Wednesday's Active Investment Company Alliance Fall Round Table in New York City, with David Tepper of Tepper Capital Management revisiting past selections of some classic funds he has held for years and their prospects for the future, plus his outlook on the potential dangers of private credit, what he is worried about if the economy turns and more. Charles Rotblut, vice president of the American Association of Indi

Andrew Foster, founder and chief investment officer at Seafarer Capital Partners — manager of the Seafarer Growth and Income Fund — says that it's the "bottom of the first or, maybe, bottom of the second inning with respect to how tariffs will play out," but he notes that emerging markets companies have pushed higher prices back on U.S. consumers, which means the story has a lot of twists and turns left to navigate. Foster also says that domestic investors want to use emerging markets -- and foreign currencies -- to diversify portfolios against what lies ahead, noting that over-exposure to the dollar may lead to greater volatility and risk ahead. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, heads to the utilities sector and a long-time established fund for his ETF of the Week. The second half of today's show is interviews from Wednesday's Fall Round Table for the Active Investment Company Alliance, which Chuck attended and spoke at in New York City. The conversation starts with Ryan Paylor, portfolio manager

David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation, says that as artificial intelligence become less of an economic focus, the market will wake up to potential weakness on Main Street, where "recessionary patterns" are already visible. He is expecting "one of the weaker holiday seasons in a while," and says that a lot of signs that have been viewed as bullish have become much more questionable. He would not be surprised to see the market test October lows — roughly 6,550 on the Standard & Poor's 500 — before year's end.    Nate Miles, head of retirement at Allspring Global Investments, discusses the firm's 2025 Retirement Study, which showed that only six in 10 retirees and near-retirees feel financially secure, a significant decline from just a year ago. The study also showed that investors — who have embraced target-date funds and life-cycle funds as a primary savings option — are looking for more personally tailored investment and retirement-spending solutions.    In the Market Call, absolut