One of the most striking financial characteristics of the pandemic experience has been the seeming disconnect between the economy and the stock market. The economy was severely damaged by the lockdown of business and sheltering in place policies put in effect earlier this year, but until this week the market has been rising with more stocks  The unemployment rate which had fallen to 3.5% last year, the lowest level since 1969, skyrocketed with the lockdowns, reaching 14.7% in April, a level not seen since the Great Depression. Since then it’s fallen, to a still elevated 7.9 % in September, the last report before the election.  How sound are the economy and markets going into the election? What could change? Joining us with some answers this week will be financial thought leader, Jason Trennert. Trennert is co-founder, Chairman, CEO, and Chief Investment Strategist of Strategas, He says the wide policy differences between Biden and Trump call for different portfolio strategies post-election.  WEALTHTRACK #1718 broadcast on October 30, 2020 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/election-portfolio-strategy-trennert-part-1/

COVID-19 reminded us that life-changing “Black Swan” events don’t just happen once in a century. They are an ongoing reality.  In the last twenty years, we have lived through 9/11, the global financial crisis, and now a global pandemic with the unintended consequence of rolling economic lockdowns.  On an investment level, all of these events have delivered a sharp hit to financial markets from which they have recovered. Such is the resilience and strength of the U.S. capital markets and the underlying economy.  But on a personal finance level, the impact of these events can be much more damaging and long-lasting, particularly for individuals nearing retirement or in it,  which is why we asked this week’s guest to join us. Clients in those vulnerable years are his focus.  Our guest this week is Mark Cortazzo, a certified financial planner, Founder, and Senior Partner of MACRO Consulting Group an independent wealth management firm. We asked Cortazzo to walk us through the conversations he has been having with clients about preparing for these “Black Swan” events.  WEALTHTRACK #1717 broadcast on October 23, 2020 More info at: https://wealthtrack.com/financial-survival-through-an-unforeseen-crisis-with-top-financial-planner-mark-cortazzo/

Are we in the midst of a new economic expansion and secular bull market? Those are the signals from ClearBridge Investments’ Recovery Dashboard. Investment Strategist Jeff Schulze takes us through the indicators flashing green.  WEALTHTRACK #1716A published on October 21, 2020. More info: https://wealthtrack.com/new-economic-expansion/

One extraordinary characteristic of this pandemic period has been stock market performance. A recent Wall Street Journal headline captures it perfectly: “Turbocharged stocks blast off.”  In its third-quarter market’s review, the Journal points out that “more stocks skyrocketed at least 400% in the first three quarters of the year than in any comparable period since 2000.” This is not a tide that is lifting all boats, anything but. The overwhelming majority of the winners are tech or biotech-related.  Whether value’s short-lived outperformance will continue is of particular interest to this week’s guest. She is Sarah Ketterer, Chief Executive Officer of Causeway Capital Management. The combination of its deep value and international focus has proven to be challenging in this era of high performing tech and U.S. centric stocks, but Ketterer and her colleagues now call this a value investor’s dream market as more high quality, financially strong companies sell at “shockingly” cheap valuations.  Ketterer will discuss which ones, in particular, have caught her eye.   WEALTHTRACK # 1716 broadcast on October 16, 2020 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/depressed-global-value-stocks-represent-a-value-investors-dream-says-fund-manager-sarah-ketterer/ WSJ-THird Quater Review: https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-stocks-have-rallied-more-than-400-this-year-11601458202

How surprised have you been by the market’s supercharged recovery from the March lows and the economy’s rebound from the COVID trough? By any measure, the snapback has been extraordinary. The shortest bear market in U.S. history, a mere 33 weeks from late February to late March, and a much faster recovery than expected.   As this week’s guest, Nancy Lazar told clients recently: “In the last expansion it took almost 9 years (until 2018) for unemployment to fall to 4.0%. Today the Fed expects (more likely wishes) to see 4.0% just 4 years into this expansion. And since this cycle’s Drivers are leveraged to the Fed’s main policy tool - interest rates - the Fed’s in a good position to make it happen.”   We will discuss why she is optimistic about the economy’s progress based on some unappreciated and under-reported trends she and her team have been tracking both pre-pandemic and now. Be prepared for a fascinating and different analysis of the U.S. economy and why its recovery powers are so strong. WEALTHTRACK #1715 broadcast on October 09,2020 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/why-the-4-forces-driving-the-economys-comeback-are-powerful-and-sustainable/

“Don’t fight the Fed” has become an accepted Wall Street adage. It’s a phrase coined by Martin Zweig, a legendary technical analyst, and investor who predicted the 1987 market crash to the day and was the author of the 1970 investment classic Winning On Wall Street.  Zweig wrote that “The monetary climate - primarily the trend in interest rates and Federal Reserve policy - is the dominant factor in determining the stock market’s major direction.” Fast forward 50 years and “Don’t fight the Fed” is very much alive. This week’s guest has been following that dictum during his 40-year investment career.  He says we are in the midst of a Fed-induced market melt-up right now. He is Ed Yardeni, a respected Ph.D. economist, strategist, and Fed watcher who leads  Yardeni Research, a global investment strategy firm he founded in 2007. A prolific writer, publishing a detailed daily Morning Briefing and comprehensive What I am Reading list, he is also the author of a new book,  Fed Watching for Fun and Profit: A Primer for Investors. He’ll discuss why the Fed has become even more important in predicting the markets and what its current policies mean for investors. WEALTHTRACK #1714 originally broadcast on October 02, 2020 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/why-fed-watching…-market-behavior/ Fed Watching for Fun and Profit: A Primer for Investors: https://amzn.to/30pSlkM Winning On Wall Street: https://amzn.to/30rYhJI

How do you successfully take over and run a legendary fund with a 60-year track record of excellence? We are about to find out this week in a rare interview with a fund manager who is doing just that.  The fund is the T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund.  The small-cap growth fund has 34 billion dollars in assets and carries a Five-Star, Silver Analyst rating from Morningstar. Prior to taking over the fund, Spencer established his own record of excellence with the T. Rowe Price Global Technology Fund which he ran from 2012 until early in 2019. During his tenure the fund delivered nearly 22% annualized returns, far outdistancing its benchmark and peer group. What does New Horizons’ legacy mean to Spencer? How is he changing it? We’ll find out.  WEALTHTRACK #1713 originally broadcast on September 25, 2020. More info: https://wealthtrack.com/next-generation-great-investor-josh-spencer-on-taking-over-t-rowe-prices-new-horizons-fund/

COVID-19 has thrown a monkey wrench into many retirement plans as millions of Americans were thrown out of work and many were forced to tap into retirement accounts to pay the bills.   The experience has made Social Security benefits even more valuable to potential and current retirees.  According to Social Security expert Mary Beth Franklin, they account for half or more of total income for 50% of married couples and 70% of unmarried individuals.  They are the only source of guaranteed income for life for most Americans, and they have the added bonus of adjusting for inflation, thus protecting purchasing power.  Mary Beth Franklin joins us to discuss how to make the most of Social Security benefits.  Franklin is an acknowledged expert on this topic.      She has written that deciding when and how to claim Social Security benefits is one of the most important decisions that retirees will ever make. In this week’s show, I asked her how the pandemic is affecting those decisions.    WEALTHTRACK #1712 originally broadcast on September 18, 2020 More information: https://wealthtrack.com/getting-the-most-out-of-social-security-mary-beth-franklin-on-maximizing-your-retirement-benefits/ Maximizing Social Security Retirement Benefits: http://www.investmentnews.com/MBFebook

COVID-19 has affected just about every aspect of our lives:  our jobs, our health, our family and social interactions, children’s education, and leisure time.  But what has it done to retirement prospects? Not surprisingly, it has hurt them.  According to a survey of American workers with qualified retirement savings accounts, “...almost half (49%)  had experienced a reduction in work income through job loss, or decrease in hours and/or a pay cut”. Also, “...workers who lost their jobs or experienced a drop in income due to the COVID-19 pandemic were at least twice as likely to take money from their qualified retirement savings accounts as those who weren’t impacted.”    Retirement plans for older workers are particularly stressed. Not only do they have less time to make up any shortfalls, but seniors are more at risk from COVID-19 than younger people, so returning to work is more problematic.   According to the Urban Institute, the combined rate of unemployment and underemployment for workers over 65 was 26% recently, much higher than for those between 25 and 54, and the largest gap on record.     How can we improve our retirement plans to withstand the current shock of this pandemic and future crises, which will inevitably occur?    This week we’ll be joined by one of WEALTHTRACK’s long-standing and most popular guests,  retirement expert Mary Beth Franklin.  Franklin is a Certified Financial Planner, award-winning personal finance journalist, Contributing Editor at InvestmentNews, and Author of “Maximizing Social Security Retirement Benefits.”  Franklin explains what the pandemic has revealed about the state of retirement planning in the U.S., and how to best manage your own retirement in the current situation. WEALTHTRACK # 1711 originally broadcast on September 11, 2020 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/how-covid-is-affecting-retirement-with-retirement-benefits-expert-mary-beth-franklin/ Maximizing Social Security Retirement Benefits: http://www.investmentnews.com/MBFebook Surveys & Articles: https://www.limra.com/en/newsroom/industry-trends/2020/secure-retirement-institute-covid-19-related-job-loss-or-income-reductions-drive-americans-to-tap-their-retirement-savings/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/business/retirement-coronavirus.html 17

All The Reasons To Be Bullish - This Week on WEALTHTRACKRemember the discussions about the shape of the economic recovery? Would it be a “V”, a “W”, or maybe even a hockey stick? The jury might still be out about the economy, but as far as the markets are concerned there is no question. V’s abound. The top five S&P 500 companies by market capitalization - Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google’s parent Alphabet, and Facebook - all but the last topping a trillion in market value, are sharply higher. It is no surprise to this week’s guest. Ed Yardeni turned bullish nearly to the day of the market turnaround. He and his team are now calling this a Fed-led meltup. They say it could turn into the Mother of All Meltups, what they jokingly refer to as MAMU if it continues. They would feel a lot better about its sustainability if the market had some sort of correction or consolidation. So far it hasn’t complied. Yardeni is a Ph.D. economist, long time Fed watcher, and investment strategist who is widely followed by institutional investors.  He founded his own global investment strategy and asset allocation firm Yardeni Research in 2007, having held top investment positions at several major firms. He is also the author of a new book, Fed Watching for Fun and Profit: A Primer for Investors, which will be the focus of another WEALTHTRACK. This week, we’ll discover how bullish he still is and gets his advice for investors. WEALTHTRACK #1710 broadcast on September 04, 2020 More info here: https://wealthtrack.com/all-the-reasons-to-be-bullish-with-veteran-strategist-and-fed-watcher-ed-yardeni/ Fed Watching for Fun and Profit: A Primer for Investors: https://amzn.to/31YHWh8