Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Thomas Winmill, manager of the Midas Fund, discusses how uncertainties over tariffs, trade wars and geo-politics have help boost gold prices by more than 40 percent in the last year — and mining-company stocks by even more — and yet the current level of concern is going to help precious metals go even higher from here. He explains why the higher prices are a particular boon for the miners, making them the market sector he thinks has the most potential moving forward. Dan Brown, director of consumer product management at KeyBank talks about the firm's recent research which showed that Americans have levels of financial stress which may not be fully warranted, contradicting other studies — including ones discussed recently on the show — by showing that 45 percent of respondents are confident they could manage a $2,000 unexpected expense. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, looks to the newest bond offering from the oldest mutual fund company — one of its first ventures into running exchange-traded funds — as his ETF of the Week. Plus, in the Market Call, Wasif Latif, president/chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners — manager of the new Sarmaya Thematic ETF — talks about the concepts and ideas that he thinks will move the market next.

Charles Piller, author of “Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimers,” discusses how research into one of the world's most devastating health scourges has been held back by the egos and profit motives of some of the leading researchers, and what they have done to keep their research in the spotlight even as more science shows that it might be leading to the wrong conclusions on how to combat the problem. Lindsay Theodore of T. Rowe Price talks about new research — and a planning guide created from it, that looks at life and long-term care planning for the second half of retirement, noting that for many people the golden years are two different stages that require separate financial focus to plan for correctly. Plus Dan Kim, director of research at Saturna Capital — manager of the Sextant International fund — brings his long-term focus to finding disruptive stocks to the Market Call.

Craig Callahan, chief executive officer at ICON Advisers, says the stock market is trading near its fair value, but that it has enough earnings momentum to push out an average year of gains — something in the range of 9 to 11 percent — and that it could do better if profits come in above expectation levels. He does anticipate more volatility, but figures the underlying value of stocks — especially those with quality management — should overcome headline risks. Mish Schneider, chief strategist at MarketGauge.com, says that market hysteria about headlines — and particularly some of those being created over the weekends while the stock market is closed — is creating opportunities, especially for volatility traders. Plus, in the Market Call, Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager of equities for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, talks about being picky in selecting stocks that can thrive in current conditions.

Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, says "the soft landing narrative right now is alive and well," but she is watching initial jobless claims and and high-yield bond spreads, both of which have been at levels showing continued economic strength and which aren't signalling any change in that trend. She does say that investors should temper expectations because the market sits at 22 times forward earnings, with the historic peak being 24 times; while that gives some room for more upside, it suggests that solid earnings and great balance sheets -- trading at reasonable prices -- will be essential for delivering positive results. David Trainer, president at New Constructs, puts Quantum Computing in "The Danger Zone,"   warning that a recent decline that cut the stock price in half didn't go nearly far enough given a lack of profits and a questionable business model. Craig Giventer, managing director of portfolio strategies for Focus Partners Wealth, talks about the importance of finding "good businesses at fair prices" -- rather than bad businesses at bargain levels -- in the Market Call.

The show — like the stock market and economy — moves in a lot of directions today, with Ron Sanchez, chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust Company International, saying that there's a "high degree of clarity around the economy," — a level of sustainability and durability that he thinks will last at least through 2026 —  balanced out by a host of policy and regime changes ahead that could impact monetary and fiscal policies, regulation, trades and tariffs and more. He thinks the uncertainty being played over a strong economic backdrop should ensure that the market avoids significant trouble. Jeffrey Bierman, founder of TheQuantGuy.com and chief market technician at TheoTrade, says the stock market is setting up for a "garden-variety, nothing-to-panic, maybe 10 percent corrective move in the market," but that once that is done stocks will consolidate and the market will start to climb higher again. Neither guest thinks big gains are likely in 2025, but both think that high single-digit gains are likely. Also on the show, John Cole Scott of Closed-End Fund Advisors answers audience questions on closed-end fund investing in The NAVigator segment and Chip Lupo discusses a WalletHub survey which showed that some 40 percent of Americans think their bank is taking advantage of them.

Nanette Abuhoff Jacobson, global investments strategist for the Hartford Funds, is expecting a positive year for 2025, with a broadening market and solid earnings growth driving it forward, but she expects the drive to a third consecutive year of double-digit gains to be more volatile. That volatility represents an opportunity, she said, because fantastic companies become cheap when the markets get frothy but their underlying fundamentals don't change. Jacobson is leaning towards domestic stocks, but she noted that investors do not want to forsake international stocks, because they represent a good value at a point where domestic markets are pricey. Economist Lester Jones discusses the latest Business Outlook Survey from the National Association for Business Economics, which showed that economists think sales and profits are holding steady in current conditions, despite rising costs and increasing uncertainty over economic policy. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, looks at a Bitcoin fund that uses options to eliminate downside risk as his ETF of the Week, and Geoff Garbacz, partner at Quantitative Partners, mixes technical analysis with a macro outlook in examining some popular stocks in the Money Life Market Call.

Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott, says that "the U.S. economy seems to be in pretty good shape," noting that there's a healthy amount of momentum — built on the strength of the labor market — that is creating solid underpinnings to will keep the economy and the stock market in a good place at least through 2025. Luschini thinks that earnings expectations — which he sees as a key for stocks continuing to post gains — are reasonable right now, though he does expect the market will be more volatile around news events, especially as it relates to earnings. Mark Hamrick, Washington bureau chief for Bankrate.com, looks at their latest "emergency savings report," which showed that just 41 percent of Americans would use their savings to pay for a major unexpected expense, like a $1,000 car repair or medical emergency treatment. In the Market Call, Ken Applegate, portfolio manager for the Wasatch International Growth and International Select funds, talks global small-cap investing.

Steven Dover, chief market strategist for Franklin Templeton — the head of the Franklin Templeton Investment Institute — called the DeepSeek news that roiled the market over the weekend and into Monday "a Sputnik moment," comparing it to when the Russians stepped up the space race and the rest of the world responded. "If it's true that something is coming out that is much cheaper and easier for companies to use, that is going to incease the efficiency and productivity of the economy and help the broad market significantly," Dover said. He noted that the weekend's news — and the start of the new Trump Administration — have not shaken his outlook for 2025, when he sees low double-digit gains, a broadening of the stocks that are working and heightened volatility, but no recession. Tom McClellan, editor of The McClellan Market Report, talks about how he believes that liquidity concerns are being overlooked by investors now, but they have him fully short the market. He notes that "event risk" tends to be heightened when liquidity is impaired, which could add to market volatility now; he pointed out that the DeepSeek news highlighted market overconfidence because investors were unprepared for weekend event risk. In the Market Call, Max Wasserman, co-founder and senior portfolio manager at Miramar Capital, talks about building a portfolio around dividend payers, with a mix of high- and low-growth companies. 

Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, says that  investors are nervous and have plenty of worries, but that there is a disconnect between those negative thoughts and what's actually going wrong because conditions continue to look good and be mostly unaffected by the worst things investors are scared of. That's a big reason why McMillan is optimistic now, noting as well that "The worse the rest of the world looks, the better we look because there's nowhere else to be;" while he expects heightened volatility, he also expects stocks to deliver low double-digit gains again this year. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs, puts the entire utility sector in the Danger Zone, noting that the vast majority of companies in the sector are unattractive or worse. Ted Rossman discusses a Bankrate.com study showing that nearly one in four rewards cardholders left free money on the table last year. Plus Jon Wolfenbarger, founder and chief executive officer at BullAndBearProfits.com, brings his stock and ETF strategies to the Market Call.

Barry Ritholtz, chairman and chief investment officer at Ritholtz Wealth Management, says that investors love a good story, but they tend to put too much stock in them and right now they are looking at a lot of things that either "can't" happen or "must" happen after two big-gain years for the market and they're making misguided decisions. He notes that the economy is likely to continue to avoid recession, especially as the 2020s will be looked back on as a period that pushed technology forward and created productivity  and other gains that helped a mature economy keep growing. Chris Vermeulen, chief market strategist for The Technical Traders, discusses why short-term concerns have him on the sidelines right now -- even with the market potentially set to gain another 5 to 8 percent before he expects a downturn -- and what he will need to see to feel comfortable moving back into the market. In The NAVigator segment, Miguel Laranjeiro, investment director for municipal debt at Abrdn, says the appetite for muni-bond assets has been growing at a point when "tax-exempt yields look really attractive."