The recent aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve caused a crisis in some super-regional banks, but the damage has been contained and has not affected the entire banking industry. However, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell believes that the economic toll of such aggressive tightening could be different this time. Savita Subramanian, Head of U.S. Equity and Quantitative Strategy at BofA Global Research, also shares this opinion and recommends stocks over bonds and cyclical sectors over defensive ones, contrary to most institutional investors surveyed by BofA. Subramanian has been named a top-ranked analyst by Institutional Investor for the last 10 years and to Barron’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance for the past three years. WEALTHTRACK episode 1946, broadcast on May 12, 2023 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/why-owning-stocks-over-bonds-cyclicals-over-defensive-is-savita-subramanians-contrarian-call/

We have a very interesting guest who has publicly voiced a major policy difference on ESG investing. Terrence Keeley, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of 1PointSix LLC, left BlackRock, one of the world's largest investment managers, in July 2022 to publish his book, SUSTAINABLE: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing.  In his 40-year investment career, Keeley has never advised a client to invest in ESG, and he joins us to explain why ESG investing doesn't work and what does. This is a rare occasion for a top executive at a major investment firm to go public about a major policy difference.  WEALTHTRACK episode 1945, broadcast on May 5, 2023 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/why-esg-investing-doesnt-work-former-top-blackrock-executive-terrence-keeley-explains-why-and-what-does/ Bookshelf: Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing https://amzn.to/3nAyAp9

Part 2 of 2 We continue our interview with Ed Yardeni, an experienced economist, strategist, and Fed watcher who has been closely following the Fed throughout his 40-year investment career.  Yardeni is the author of “Fed Watching for Fun and Profit: A Primer for Investors” and head of his own global investment strategy firm, Yardeni Research. He believes that anticipating the actions of the Federal Reserve System's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is critical to successful investing.  Despite the historically aggressive pace of interest rate hikes over the past year, Yardeni thinks the Fed is done hiking interest rates for now. We will discuss whether "Don't Fight the Fed" still works as an investment strategy. WEALTHTRACK episode 1944 broadcast on Apr 28, 2023 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/does-dont-fight-the-fed-still-work-as-an-investment-strategy-strategist-ed-yardeni-responds/ Bookshelf: Fed Watching for Fun & Profit, A Primer for Investorshttps://amzn.to/42amRwr

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is considered the best financial executive in the country and recently weighed in on the banking system's recent turmoil. He believes that simply satisfying regulatory requirements is not sufficient in managing risks, which requires constant and vigilant scrutiny as the world evolves. He also points out that most of the risks in the U.S. banking system were hiding in plain sight and that recent changes in regulatory requirements would not have made a difference in what followed. Bill Wilby is a retired professional money manager with a Ph.D. in International Monetary Economics who will discuss the problems with U.S. Treasuries and why financials are uninvestable. WEALTHTRACK episode 1943 broadcast on April 21, 2023 More info:  Bookshelf: Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technologyhttps://amzn.to/3H3goLq

Part 1 of 2 After a tough 2022, big tech stocks are back and leading the market rally. According to research firm Strategas, ten stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet, Salesforce, AMD, and Broadcom, have accounted for 90% of the S&P 500's year-to-date gains.  This dominance of a handful of stocks has investors facing some interesting choices, including cash, which is back with money market funds offering yields as high as 5%, and gold, which has recently traded near record territory at over two thousand dollars an ounce.  All of this is happening against a backdrop of the highest interest rates in years, stress in the banking system, and a Federal Reserve under pressure to pause its fight against inflation.  To discuss the outlook for the economy and markets, and the best course for investors, we are joined by Ed Yardeni, President and Chief Investment Strategist of Yardeni Research, a PhD economist, long-time Fed watcher, and investment strategist who is widely followed by institutional investors. WEALTHTRACK episode 1942 broadcast on April 14, 2023. More info: https://wealthtrack.com/navigating-todays-investment-crosscurrents-with-veteran-macro-strategist-ed-yardeni/ Bookshelf: In Praise of Profits! : https://amzn.to/3ogciJC Predicting the Markets: A Professional Autobiography: https://amzn.to/3o7dGOp

Part 2 of 2 Planning for retirement and replacing a work paycheck with savings can be a daunting task, especially with the current challenges of market declines, inflation, rising interest rates, and the threat of recession. Christine Benz, Morningstar's director of personal finance, is passionate about simplifying retirement portfolio planning and has identified six retirement blind spots: retirement date risk sequence-of-return risk  low-yield risk inflation risk  health care/long-term care risk  longevity risk  In this second of a two-part series on Building a Better Retirement, Benz explains how to mitigate these risks and offers solutions to ensure a financially secure retirement. WEALTHTRACK episode 1941 broadcsat on April 07, 2023 https://wealthtrack.com/retirement-blind-spots-and-how-to-fix-them-with-morningstars-personal-finance-guru-christine-benz/ Bookshelf: Morningstar's 30-Minute Money Solutions: A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Your Finances: https://amzn.to/3G5rVcN Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds: Five-Star Strategies for Success: https://amzn.to/3zqb2pv

This week, the Federal Reserve raised its key short-term interest rate for the ninth consecutive time, bringing it to the highest level since September 2007. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the dilemma that the Fed officials faced, the banking system's turmoil has been a cause of concern following the recent bank failures. However, Powell assured that the banking system is sound and resilient, and the Federal Reserve is prepared to use all tools as needed to keep it safe and sound.  Dividend-paying stocks are gaining new respect among investors, and they are proving to be a protective asset in times of market volatility. ClearBridge Investments' Dividend Strategy Fund has been named one of "The Best Dividend Funds" for 2023 by Morningstar. Michael Clarfeld, co-portfolio manager of the fund, is with us to explain why high-quality companies with histories of growing their dividends are particularly valuable now. WEALTHTRACK Episode 1939 broadcast on March 24, 2023 More info about the stocks mentioned and the Dividend Compounders list:https://wealthtrack.com/the-many-benefits-of-dividend-paying-stocks-explained-by-a-top-rated-dividend-fund-manager/

In this episode of WEALTHTRACK, leading Wall Street economist Nancy Lazar discusses the resilience of the U.S. economy, despite several canaries in the coal mine examples of financial strain. Lazar shares her insights on why the economy is holding up better than expected and what we can expect moving forward, including the impact of the Federal Reserve's efforts to slow down the recovery. Lazar, a highly-ranked economist since 2001 and has been on Barron's 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance for the past three years, offers valuable insights for investors and anyone interested in the state of the economy. WEALTHTRACK episode 1938 broadcast on March 17, 2023 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/wheres-the-recession-leading-economist-nancy-lazar-on-the-legacy-liquidity-still-fueling-the-economy/

First Eagle’s small-cap portfolio manager, Bill Hench, has a long track record of beating the market and the competition by discovering hidden gems among small-cap stocks with short-term problems. WEALTHTRACK episode 1937, published on March 09, 2023

Award-winning personal finance columnist Jonathan Clements discusses the number one topic among his HumbleDollar newsletter readers and a strategy to ease the burden.   WEALTHTRACK episode 1936 published on March 03, 2023   In this second week of the winter fund-raising season for Public Television, we are revisiting a very popular interview from award-winning personal finance reporter and HumbleDollar editor Jonathan Clements. He addresses the new financial realities of higher interest rates and inflation and the impact they are having on portfolios and financial planning. This is an additional excerpt that didn't make it in the original interview.