One of the biggest issues to emerge from the pandemic is income inequality. It has become even more pronounced as millions of low-income workers lose their jobs and the much smaller number of high-income workers keep theirs and benefit from a powerful bull market. This week’s guest is on a crusade to change this dynamic, by giving opportunities to lower-income individuals and their families to achieve economic success. He is Great Value Investor and Financial Thought Leader Joel Greenblatt. He has a new book Common Sense: The Investor’s Guide To Equality, Opportunity, and Growth and like Thomas Paine who successfully campaigned against the monarchical and tyrannical rule of Great Britain over the 13 colonies in 1776 with his widely-read pamphlet Common Sense, Greenblatt is on a crusade to disrupt the established order in a few key areas including education, corporate hiring, taxation, and immigration. One area ripe for disruption is the education system which he says is “unfair, unequal and doesn’t make sense for those most in need.” Greenblatt has tackled these inequities personally by co-founding and supporting the top-performing Success Academy Charter Network in New York. He has other real-world solutions to address these gaps. Greenblatt’s investment bona fides are also impressive. He is Managing Principal and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Gotham Asset Management. Normally investment strategy would be the focus of our entire conversation, but in today's pandemic pivot we are starting with an essential prerequisite for a successful capitalist democracy, economic opportunity for all. In a wide-ranging discussion, Greenblatt explains why he, a professional money manager, felt compelled to write his version of Common Sense. WEALTHTRACK # 1706 originally broadcast on August 07, 2020 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/great-value-investor-joel-greenblatt-on-some-revolutionary-ideas-from-his-new-book-common-sense/ Get the book “Common Sense”: https://amzn.to/33DKd2b

We are in a rolling economic crisis right now, subject to the vagaries of the advance or retreat of the COVID-19 virus.  It is an ever-changing scenario with stark winners and losers. The economy contracted at an annualized rate of 32.9% in the second quarter, the sharpest decline in the 70 plus years of GDP tracking. After several weeks of improvement, jobless claims for first-time unemployment benefits rose for the second week in a row. 17 million Americans are now collecting unemployment benefits. So far, the markets have been betting on COVID’s retreat and global economic recovery with big tech leading the way. How to handle these extremes as investors? As we have so many times in the past, on this week’s WEALTHTRACK we are calling upon a veteran investor to give us perspective and investment advice.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLznI5J0QOR3ONLK1lo5WTgjA5c3hAGHAt We’ll hear from great investor Hersh Cohen, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Clearbridge Investments. With more than 50 years of managing money under his belt, Cohen edged out the S&P 500 with much less risk and volatility than the market. WEALTHTRACK #1705 originally broadcast on July 31, 2020 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/crisis-investing-with-veteran-portfolio-manager-hersh-cohen/ "Hersh's Dividend Compounders" list is available here: https://bit.ly/39HSrrl

Safe haven investments are hard to find these days, which is why we need them more than ever. We are faced with risks we haven’t experienced in living memory. A truly global and spreading pandemic, rolling government lockdowns, unprecedented involvement in securities markets by the Federal Reserve and other central banks, and massive stimulus from governments with payments to individuals and businesses. Normally when corporate and government debt soars to record levels bond markets get nervous, bond prices fall and interest rates rise as investors worry about getting paid back. Not in today's environment. The Fed has essentially pledged to keep short-term interest rates near zero and backstop numerous types of loans to prevent businesses from going bust and laying off workers. That assurance and the “don’t fight the Fed” adage seem to be enough for most fixed-income investors who continue to chase yield, driving bond prices up and interest rates down. Not this week’s guest. Tom Atteberry is a Portfolio Manager of the flagship FPA New Income fund. Atteberry brings us up to speed on conditions in the bond market, and how they have changed since Covid-19. Atteberry will also share his One Investment recommendation with us – it might surprise you! WEALTHTRACK #1704 originally broadcast on July 24, 2020 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/safe-haven-investing-with-fpa-new-income-funds-tom-atteberry/

There are a few moments in one’s lifetime when the geopolitical and economic backdrop truly changes. COVID-19 and its aftermath are one of those moments. I call it “The Pandemic Pivot”. The combined shocks of a highly contagious and in some cases deadly virus, global economic shutdown, rising populism, and global unrest are upending the old world order and introducing new disruptive dynamics yet to be fully realized. In the meantime each of us has to live our lives, do our work and plan and invest for the future as best we can. This week’s guest is one of them.  He is Matthew McLennan, a noted global manager, Head of the Global Value Team at First Eagle Investment Management Long before this crisis McLennan has been talking about emerging global geopolitical and financial risks. He says the pandemic has exposed a number of vulnerabilities that we will discuss, as well as how he is managing through them. One particularly interesting aspect of his strategy is a renewed emphasis on gold as a long term substitute for cash. WEALTHTRACK #1703 originally broadcast on July 17, 2020 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/pandemic-uncertainty-risks-and-a-renewed-emphasis-on-gold-as-a-long-term-substitute-for-cash/

Part Two: We are living in extraordinary times. We are calling it the Pandemic Pivot: the changes that have occurred or accelerated because of COVID-19 and the dramatic response to it, from economic shutdown to massive life support.  The stock market performance has been largely driven by a small group of well-known mega-cap tech stocks which explains the NASDAQ and S&P 500’s stellar performance and the lagging broader markets. Apple, Microsoft, Google’s parent Alphabet, Amazon, and Facebook make up 40% of the NASDAQ’s market capitalization and 20% of the S&P 500’s.   Is the stunning rally off of the recent March lows durable? Are stock prices running on anything other than Fed fumes?  Yes, says legendary value investor Bill Miller! He will explain why he joins us for the second of our two-part interview with him.   WEALTHTRACK Episode #1702 originally broadcast on July 10, 2020   More info: https://wealthtrack.com/all-the-reasons-to-be-bullish-with-legendary-value-investor-bill-miller/   Watch Part One: https://youtu.be/G5kee6K0lAw

We are marking the start of this season with the introduction of a new series. What we are calling the “Pandemic Pivot” - the rapid economic, market, and geopolitical shifts we are experiencing during the global health crisis. Through lockdowns and re-openings, the changes have been dramatic and swift. The huge, largely government-induced shutdown of global commerce ended the record-breaking economic recovery and the bull market in the U.S. The massive monetary and fiscal stimulus in response led to the shortest bear market in history and what could turn out to be the briefest recession ever - the jury is still out on this. To make sense of these changes, we are turning to a great investor Bill Miller, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Miller Value Partners. This week, in the first of a two-part interview, Miller and I discuss how the world has and has not changed since the pandemic struck. WEALTHTRACK Episode #1701 broadcast on July 03, 2020 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/a-rare-in-depth-interview-with-great-investor-bill-miller-on-what-the-pandemic-has-changed/

One of the striking financial characteristics of this pandemic stricken world has been the extreme divergence between the sickening economic reality on the ground and the out of this world exuberance in the stock market, which started long before now when businesses are slowly and sporadically being allowed to reopen. This week’s guest’s interpretation of the data is the polar opposite. He has widely followed economist, David Rosenberg, President, Chief Economist and Strategist at Rosenberg Research & Associates, Last week, in Part I of our interview, he told us the economy was already going into a recession when the pandemic hit, that it has dramatically deepened, and that unless there is a vaccine soon, which he doubts will happen, that the damage will be lasting. This week, in Part 2 of our interview with Rosenberg, he focuses on the markets. He says it is impossible to reconcile one of the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression with the recent biggest 50-day post bear market rally in the S&P 500’s history and that something has to give. Despite the market’s impressive performance since the March lows, he remains bearish, calling the experience a classic bear market rally. In this week’s interview, we discuss what has led him to this conclusion. Rosenberg will also explain why he believes the pandemic has brought about a fundamental shift to what he calls a “Homebody Economy”, and what that means for investors. He agreed to share his list of “How to invest in the Post-Crisis ‘Homebody’ Economy” with us on our website. WEALTHTRACK #1651 broadcast on June 29, 2020 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/this-is-a-bear-market-rally-life-has-changed-homebody-investments-will-flourish-says-rosenberg/ Letter from the “Non-Bearish” Chief Economist: https://wealthtrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Letter-from-the-Non-Bearish-Chief-Economist_Special_Report_2020_05_06.pdf

In the first of a two-part interview, Influential economist David Rosenberg explains why “nothing is normal” after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a picture that Rosenberg has been painting ever since the pandemic hit. And well before that he was deeply concerned about the economy’s weakness and the stock market’s vulnerability. Dave Rosenberg is President, Chief Economist and Strategist at his independent economic consulting firm Rosenberg Research & Associates which he launched early this year with the stated priority of “…providing investors with analysis and insights to help them make well-informed investment decisions.” He is known for his tell-it-like-it-is commentary, independence of thought, and high conviction calls which are frequently far out of the consensus. He will not disappoint in this interview as we discuss why “nothing is normal.” More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/influential-economist-david-rosenberg-warns-life-is-going-to-change-permanently-after-covid-19/ Churchill: Walking With Destiny, By Andrew Roberts: https://amzn.to/2XXft9p

The impact of past pandemics on the U.S. economy and markets has important lessons for today says financial historian Richard Sylla, as does the record growth in both monetary and fiscal stimulus. More info: https://wealthtrack.com/the-financial-impact-of-past-pandemics-has-important-lessons-for-today-says-historian-richard-sylla/ Reading List: “Pandemics and Epidemics: Financial and Economic Effects” : https://www.moaf.org/publications-collections/financial-history-magazine/133/_res/id=Attachments/index=0/Pandemics%20and%20Epidemics.pdf Alexander Hamilton on Finance, Credit, and Debt: https://amzn.to/3dzvrfh Alexander Hamilton: The Illustrated Biography:  https://amzn.to/3cwM7mh A History of Interest Rates: https://amzn.to/3dtnJ6e

Central banks and governments around the world are pulling out all the stops to replace income lost from COVID-19 shutdowns, including as we have seen in the United States direct payments to individuals. We are devoting a WEALTHTRACK podcast this week to “Helicopter Money”, a concept coined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman who theorized that as a last resort in a deflationary depression the government could drop dollar bills from a helicopter for people to pick up and spend to “shock it out of a deep slump” with the “aim of boosting demand and inflation.” That theory has now become reality and our financial thought leader guest, Paul McCulley believes it signals a new era whose time has finally come. McCulley will discuss the far-reaching policy changes now occurring and why he believes many will become permanent. McCulley has been a WEALTHTRACK regular since the beginning, starting when he was Senior Partner at PIMCO where he was Founding Member of its Investment Policy Committee, author of the influential monthly “Global Central Bank Focus” and manager of its huge short-term trading desk overseeing an estimated $400 billion. Since retiring from PIMCO in 2010 he has been busy writing, speaking, and teaching. He is currently adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and Senior Fellow at Cornell Law School. Influential economist and Fed analyst Paul McCulley says the concept of “Helicopter Money” from the government is here to stay and we are in a new era where monetary policy will play a subordinate role to fiscal actions. More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/influential-economist-paul-mcculley-on-the-lasting-necessity-of-record-monetary-fiscal-stimulus/ McCulley from the  WEALTHTRACK Archives: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLznI5J0QOR3PaQKEuSxDzoLjKWOBfvu7K