Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Épisodes

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  Jonathan Treussard: 'Read the news, but watch the earnings' 16.09.2026 55min

  Jonathan Treussard, founder of Treussard Capital Management, says "the market is playing chicken with itself" by pushing interest rates on long Treasury bonds above 5 percent, but it's not quite ready to live with tighter economic conditions and he is not sure if the rate picture is the "something that breaks" to create a market meltdown. Treussard says that the market can continue powering forward, even as he lays out the case for real worries about how the current cycle will end. Still, he points out that it's not ending now, largely because of the high level of capital expenditures for artificial intelligence. As long as that eprsists, he says investors should "Read the news, but watch the earnings." Roy Schwartz, co-founder of Axios, discusses his new book out this week, "Simplify: Do 50 Percent More with 50 Percent Less, which is about simplifying decisions to get some of yoyur time back, because "if you can become more efficient, more successful, more productive if you can simplify other areas of your life, that for sure will help you compete against A.I. and stay on top of it." Schwartz, who wrote the book with Axios' other co-founders, discusses the "Confront. Delete. Amplify." strategy for improving your life. Stan Haithcock, better known as "Stan the Annuity Man," returns to the show to answer a question from a listener who recently got an early retirement offer from his employer, which has him trying to figure out if he should take a lump-sum payment or stick with his pension, and whether he would be better off leaving the pension in place or potentially buying an annuity to build his own pension to help him in retirement.
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  Shadowridge's Redfern: Market about to hit 'the best 8 months of this cycle' 15.09.2026 58min

  Ryan Redfern, chief investment officer at Shadowridge Asset Management, expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this week, "but I don't think the market cares at the moment," so while there may be some short-term jitters over the move, it is more likely setting up a rally starting in November, carrying into the best eight months of the four-year presidential cycle, the period after mid-term elections running through June that has been positive for the market in every cycle dating back to the 1940s. Redfern says he does worry about the market turning, but that change is not showing up in the charts, and he plans to remain mostly invested until he sees a catalyst for a downturn. since he does not see a catalyst for downturn. Further, Redfern notes that he will stay invested in stocks because the bond market has started a 40-year cycle in which, long-term, bonds will be "garbage." Eric Zwick, co-author of "The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There," discusses his book's stories of people living the American Dream at a time when many people believe that ideal has become impossible to reach. Zwick notes that the American Dream "is more alive than you think,  but it's not necessarily where you're looking." He says it's a nationwide phenomenon — with the stories mixing intention, drive, desire and luck — but that the path to achieving the American Dream this way may be different now than it was in the past.  Steve Nicastro discusses research from Clever Real Estate which showed that just one-third of surveyed homeowners who had sold a home recently had asked their agent to lower commission costs, but that more than 90 percent of the sellers who asked for a discount got one. The savings for those who asked were real, with nearly all agents who agreed to lower commissions cutting at least 0.5% off their rate, and almost half agreeing to give a full percentage point discount.
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  Elyxium Wealth's Mortimer: We're 'mid-cycle bull market' with 'upside bias' 14.09.2026 57min

  Jeff Mortimer, chief investment officer at Elyxium Wealth, says he continues to lean into market weakness and is comfortable with heightened volatility, but he says the strong earnings that are under-pinning the market will keep most downturns looking like buying opportunities. "We remain in a mid-cycle bull market," Mortimer says, "which is important for listeners to understand in that it can change what you do with dips, and weakness that show up in any mid-cycle market phase." These conditions tend to breed a market that shrugs off bad news, jumps at positive feelings and that generally has the momentum to keep going higher.  Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, looks at the calls made last week by some A.I. power-brokers to slow the development of artificial intelligence technologies, and discusses whether those warnings will amount to much in a market where the players are all pushing for the next breakthrough. Marolia also looks at whether the latest inflation news released last week puts the Federal Reserve in position to hike interest rates this week, and whether an increase will derail the current market rally. Plus, he puts  puts Lululemon Athletica under his five-lens view to discuss whether the company — which has seen its shares lose more than half of their value in 2026 — is a falling knife or a well-timed buy. David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs revisits Klarna stock in The Danger Zone. The buy-now, pay-later company was first in the Danger Zone before it went through its initial public offering in September 2025, but it's back in now because Trainer worries that a big recent drop in the stock could convince some investors to go bargain-hunting. With a negative economic book value on the stock, Trainer thinks Klarna investors will indeed pay for their purchase later if they buy the stock now.
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  NDR's Clissold: Economy, market can weather rate hikes and 5% bond yields 11.09.2026 59min

  Ed Clissold, chief US strategist at Ned Davis Research, says that economic indicators continue to look fine, but that growth is now driven by artificial-intelligence capital spending and wealth-effect spending by consumers who have benefitted from the rising market, which means that the positive trends can continue ""provided you don't get something that knocks the market on its back." Clissold worries that Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh "may have backed himself to a corner here," putting him in position to hike rates soon, although he is clear that one or two hikes, historically, doesn't derail market trends. Likewise, higher Treasury yields shouldn't disturb economic growth until they get north of 5.25%. Clissold does expect headlines about oil prices, higher bond yields and election uncertainty to hit the market in September and October but — barring something unforeseen — expects that decline to presage a year-end rally.  John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors, returns to answer listener questions, delving into whether funds stuck with large discounts are actually a bargain if the discount is never narrowed and captured by shareholders. Scott, who also serves as chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, discusses how discounts change a fund's risk profile, providing benefits even if they remain mostly unchanged over time. He also answers questions on achieving balance in a portfolio of closed-end funds, the drawbacks and benefits of using funds that invest in closed-end funds and more. Plus, Chuck goes off the news with Louis Hoch, chief executive officer at Usio — a payment-solutions company — to discuss the upcoming deadline in a $38 billion antitrust settlement in which Visa and Mastercard were accused of charging too much to process payments on their credit cards. The settlement in the case — which dates back more than 20 years — could have hidden costs for consumers, as it frees up merchants to add additional surcharges and to reject entire classes of cards, such as rewards cards which traditionally carry higher costs for the retailer.
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  Natixis' Janasiewicz: 'Slowing' economy remains a solid base for earnings 10.09.2026 59min

  Jack Janasiewicz, lead portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers, says that the market's ability to keep running depends on the "up and to the right" trend continuing, and he expects that to continue even if the slope of the line gets flatter. There's a difference, Janasiewicz says, between a slowing economy and a slow one, noting that slowing conditions can still be a good backdrop for corporate earnings — "which is really all that matters here" — rather than a slow market, which opens the door to recession. For that, his outlook is for a slower economy without a recession, even if long-term Treasury yields creep higher, as he believes the economy can withstand higher rates and higher oil prices so long as those conditions don't become extreme. Nicholas Epley, author, "A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection" — who says he studies "mind-reading ... how we make inferences about each other's thoughts, beliefs and attitudes and mostly how we screw that up and misunderstand each other in lots of ways" — discusses America's loneliness/isolation epidemic and how people should choose to engage more often because those interactions are good for physical and mental health. He talks about a recipe for making your world friendlier, especially in times when that feels so difficult. In the Market Call, Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments, discusses the mix of art and science he puts into evaluating stocks, using valuation metrics, earnings quality, profit margins, balance-sheet health and more for determining the best relative companies across each industry group.  He notes that the market's trends on beating earnings estimates remains a very strong broad-based trend, going beyond artificial-intelligence and tech companies to the smaller sectors.
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  MacroTides' Welsh: This market will keep running, but a bear market is coming 09.09.2026 58min

  Macro strategist Jim Welsh, publisher of the Macro Tides and Weekly Technical Review newsletter, says that the advance-decline line has been making new highs for months, which is a signal that "the odds of experiencing a significant decline is unlikely," so while he thinks there are storm clouds on the horizon that could cause a 7-10 percent market decline around mid-term elections, he thinks a secular bear market is still well off into the future. After the short-term correction, Welsh sees the market returning to higher highs, based on what he sees in the advance-decline line. Still, Welsh makes it clear that there is a long-term secular bear market ahead, but it won't arrive until investors "have a really good reason to sell;" that could still be a ways off, until something truly problematic shows up in the data.  In the Market Call, Jay Hatfield, chief executive officer at Infrastructure Capital Advisors, talks about the importance of getting the macro right before digging into the micro on stocks. In analyzing the macro, Hatfield says conditions should be supportive for continued growth, though he worries about a "totally irrational" rate hike from the Federal Reserve — but also is concerned about the impact that a rate cut could have — could make the market and economy struggle. Plus, after Tuesday's conversation about annuities with Stan Haithcock — better known as "Stan the Annuity Man" — Chuck answers a listener's question about whether he has an annuity for his own long-term finances
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  Stan the Annuity Man: High rates help, but A.I. is making annuities a bargain 08.09.2026 1h

  Stan Haithcock — better known as "Stan the Annuity Man" — says that while higher interest rates may make annuity products more attractive right now, the real bargain is that life-expectancy tables have not been adjusted for the advancements artificial intelligence is creating that will lengthen life expectancies. Payments in the future will be lower, Haithcock says, "but current life expectancy tables are a bargain ... and in about two or three years you will see that change." Haithcock — who has called himself "the walking middle finger of annuity truth" — notes that with 15,000 people turning 65 every day and just 9% of the population covered by pensions, "it's a demographic tidal wave of people looking for guarantees and looking to put in an income floor." He discusses the best ways to do that — buying an annuity "for what it will do, not what it might do" —  with various types of annuities, and which products and sales pitches to walk away from. The bond market sold off last week, pushing long-term bond yields to levels unseen since 2007, at the same time copper prices went through their 10th straight week of rising prices to get close enough to record levels that a new peak is expected this week. In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, says that the numbers are real but market concerns over them are temporary. He expects the market to shake it off, meaning there are buying opportunities hidden among the headlines. Marolia also discusses an analysis released last week by the Burning Glass Institute — a labor-market think tank — showing that unemployment among workers ages 22 to 34 without a college degree has dropped to levels it has barely touched in the last two decades, which he thinks speaks to bigger trend on the value of a college education. Plus, Cary Sinnett, director of personal financial planning for the American Institute of CPAs, discusses their recent survey showing that Americans don't just love their pets, they make personal financial decisions around them. More than 60% of American dog and cat owners have a budget for spending on their pet, but nearly 7 in 10 say that, if faced with having to cut household spending, they would be more likely to cheap out on themselves ratehr than their pets.
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  Slope of Hope's Knight sees 'dynamite bearish opportunities' ahead 04.09.2026 1h 2min

  Veteran technical analyst Tim Knight, founder of SlopeofHope.com, says precious metals "are going to kick the socks off equities for a long while to come," noting that it might be less that they gain ground than that they hold their status while stocks go in the tank, but he says conditions are ripe for a market downturn, as early as the end of this year after midterm elections. Knight, who acknowledges that he is something of a perma-bear — says he expects the market to be "very, very supportive of all things A.I. until Anthropic is out {with its initial public offering]," at which point it will evaluate the future and whether the expected A.I. spending boom can continue. If there is a misstep at that point and the A.I. revolution slows "it would dwarf the housing crisis if, suddenly, the spigot turned off." John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors — the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance — discusses how business-development companies are rebounding from rough times earlier this year when net asset values crumbled as the market worried about too much exposure to parts of the software industry that could be negatively impacted by continued development of artificial intelligence. Scott says that the A.I. risk for BDCs appears  overblown, since "We're still not seeing software blowing up BDCs," though he does think it may take another two quarters of data to confirm that trend. Scott also notes that BDCs have not seen "exacerbated losses," meaning the dire forecasts have yet to play out in portfolios. In the Market Call, Greg Halter, director of research at Carnegie Investment Counsel, talks about buying "Rip van Winkle stocks" and long-term compounders and how hard they are to find in a world dominated by artificial-intelligence hyper-growth stories that could turn out to be a flash in the pan.
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  Tocqueville's Petrides: Go 'horizontal' for stability against concentrated market 03.09.2026 1h 1min

  John Petrides, portfolio manager and financial adviser at Tocqueville Asset Management, says that the stock market "is the most concentrated it has ever been," and while he does not expect the technology cycle or artificial-intelligence boom to end soon, investors should see some cracks and warning signs that there will be trouble at some point. While he doesn't foresee a bubble, Petrides sayd "This is not a time to be running to one side of the boat, of being all in cash or all in bonds because the end of the world is coming," but he notes that there is not an asset class — even A.I. stocks — that is "a table-pounding, you've got to be all-in." As a result, he advocates for diversification, "being horizontal with your assets rather than vertical" and piled too much into any one asset class. Financial advisor Dustin Smith discusses a Wealth Enhancement study which found that more than half of parents and grandparents believe children today are less financially prepared to manage money as adults than they were growing up. The hardest money lessons to teach children, according to the survey, are avoiding impulse purchases and overspending, budgeting and managing everyday spending, and simply understanding how money is earned rather than given or taken. Plus, Francisco Bido, senior portfolio manager at Emerald Asset Management — manager of the Emerald Large Cap Focused Fund — brings his quant-active, fundamentals-meets-momentum approach to stocks in the Market Call.
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  Northlight's Zaccarelli: Transformational technologies create booms ... and busts 02.09.2026 58min

  Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, says he would not be surprised by the market taking a small pullback heading into the election, rallying after the voting is done, leaving the conversation for next year on whether the market is in a bubble and what could change its trajectory. Zaccarelli notes that the same forces that create booms — like artificial intelligence now, but every major technological advancement in the past — also leaves room for downturns and crashes. Zaccarelli notes that valuations are high, but earnings growth has been so big that it has held classic value measures like price/earnings ratios in check. "If it is a bubble," Zaccarelli says, "we don't think we're at the end yet," adding that investors should ride the wave while diversifying to prepare for its end. Freddie Smith, discusses his book, "Generation F*cked: How Millennials and Gen Z Were Robbed of the American Dream and How We Can Fix Our Futures," and how those younger generations should be responding personally and financially to the challenges that their age groups face as a society.  Chip Lupo, an analyst at WalletHub discusses the site's recent research into the best and worst places to retire, which covered more than 40 indicators of an area's level of "retirement-friendliness," from financial factors like tax rates and the cost of living to things like access to quality medical care and fun activities. While three of the top five cities for retiring were in Florida, but the top overall state for retirement was Wyoming, with Florida second and South Dakota third. Kentucky scored the worst among the 50 states. 
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  NAIFA's Gandy: When it comes to retirement, people focus on the wrong things 01.09.2026 58min

  Christopher Gandy, president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, says that many consumers and savers are so focused on hitting numbers that they lose sight of what they really want, which is "a great quality of life and not having to worry about running out of money." Gandy, who is the founder of the Legacy Wealth Group, says that people spend their lives considering how much it takes to retire without looking at what they need to spend to have the  retirement lifestyle they desire. Moreover, he says that those savers don't adjust their savings habits over time, so they set goals young but take poor paths to achieve them by not adjusting to their changing circumstances over time. Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association discusses the August 2026 Beer Purchasers Index, which showed a marked improvement from last year, but which still maintains a "cautionary position" as the summer selling season winds down. The forward-looking index shows some signs of the K-shaped economy, with inflation and higher prices being reflected in below-premium brands picking up, with the top end of the curve spending more on premium beers and ciders. Luke Lango, lead technology and cryptocurrency analyst at InvestorPlace — publisher of the Innovation Investor newsletter — talks technology and artificial-intelligence investing in the Market Call, noting that while A.I. is tied into every positive tech story, every individual stock is its own situation, and the best prospects are companies that have something that is needed, defensible and able to turn demand into profits.
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  Corgi's Weniger: The bond market will behave, supporting economic upside 31.08.2026 1h 1min

  Jeff Weniger, chief investment strategist at Corgi Invest, says that while the bond market and long-term bond yields have made the market nervous, he thinks they are more likely to go sideways for a while and that largely neutral stance will let the economy keep pushing forward for at least several more quarters. Weniger says that the debt burden is likely to go sideways, which will remove the panic response from a nervous market and push trouble out well into 2027 or later. In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses the circular nature of the artificial-intelligence capital -expenditure cycle, and whether it could dry up if any link in the commerce chain is broken. He also  discusses how Kalshi has partnered with Weather.com to get greater accuracy on climate-based prediction markets, and why this action highlights a need for integrity in the data backing prediction wagering. Marolia also discusses what he learned about Dolly Parton in the wake of the iconic country star's death, and the lesson he hopes investors and consumers will take away from her life. Plus, Kyle Guske, investment analyst at New Constructs, puts Columbia Mid-Cap Select in the Danger Zone, noting that the fund — currently up more than 25% year-to-date — gets a four-star rating from Morningstar, it has a portfolio filled with stocks that his firm pegs as dangerous. "You're buying very unattractive rated stocks and you're paying a premium for those stocks," Guske says, a condition that he believes is setting the fund up for a fall.
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  Chase Investment's Klintworth: Shift in market leaders may be a sign of trouble 28.08.2026 57min

  Buck Klintworth, senior vice president at Chase Investment Counsel, says that the market has been turning, to where recent laggards are now coming to the fore and some popular names slowing down. Coupled with mid-term elections, tariff and trade conflicts and war in the Middle East, Klintworth thinks investors may wait for clarity before they push the market higher. Klintworth, who runs the Chase Growth mutual fund, says investors "can't argue with the tape," meaning they shouldn't jump out of the market as it keeps powering through real concerns, but he says that the market's changing tides should have investors looking at whether they should pull back, pursue currently high yields to lock in income, and/or rebalance their portfolio. Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital, appears in two different interviews today, reflecting his multiple roles at the money-management firm. In The NAVigator, Thummel — who manages the Tortoise Energy Infrastructure closed-end fund — says current conditions are as favorable for energy companies as he has ever seen in 30-plus years investing in the sector. He notes that "the foundation of the A.I. five-layer cake" described by Nvidia president Jensen Huang is energy and electricity. He says the focus on reliable and cost-efficient energy should have natural gas providers and producers leading the way, as natural gas remains cheap right now relative to other sources of power globally.  Thummel returns to talk individual stocks in the Market Call, covering both energy and artificial-intelligence infrastructure stocks, because he also manages Tortoise AI Infrastructure, an ETF that opened about a year ago and which is up more than 55% year-to-date.
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  Columbia Threadneedle's Vaillancourt: 'Time to take some chips off the table' 27.08.2026 1h 4min

  Jason Vaillancourt, chief portfolio strategist at Columbia Threadneedle, says that while the artificial-intelligence freight train continues to drive the market, investors should recognize that they're "playing with house money, it's time to take some chips off the table." Vaillancourt acknowledges that sometimes the best gains of a cycle come at the end of a cycle and that no one wants to miss out on that, but he suggests doing that by reallocating into income strategies that participate in the upside but also pay out and build stability into a portfolio as the cycle wanes. Vaillancourt also discusses his take on the Fed and its lead on interest rates and whether policy could mess up an economy with a driver as strong as AI expansion. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, does two things in the final "ETF of the Week" that was not done in the roughly 750 episodes before it, covering two funds and both of them being single-stock funds, one offering leveraged exposure to Nvidia if you believe the stock is going up, the other providing negative exposure to the same company if you want to bet against it.  Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management and for the Argent Large-Cap ETF, discusses his focus on "enduring businesses," and what that means as a stock-picker in an age dominated by an emerging industry like artificial intelligence where "enduring" qualities can be hard to identify and find.
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  Robertson Stephens' Katz on why this 'thoughtful' market has room to run 26.08.2026 1h

  Stuart Katz, chief investment officer at Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, says that for all of the attention headline risks are getting, the current market environment is "relatively benign and supportive of equities," and while there are legitimate questions about what could go wrong, he says the resilience of the domestic and global economy is proof that "The market is being thoughtful" and showing signs that this cycle is not near its end. Katz also discusses Treasury yields, and the concern many investors have over their current high levels, but says he believes "We're at a new normal" with the economy being strong enough to sustain Treasury rates near 5% without disrupting economic cycle. David Rose, chief investment officer at Granahan Investment Management, makes his debut in the Money Life Market Call, talking about small-cap stocks, detailing the firm's focus on "pioneer," core growth and "special situations" companies in pursuit of the traditional higher returns smaller stocks have delivered historically. Plus, Chuck answers a listener's question about how and why he has used specialty retail credit cards, the kind that currently carry interest rates of 29.99% or more, and discusses how to turn those bad deals into real savings, earnings power and financial flexibility without losing your shirt. 
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  Sage Advisory's Williams: Adjust your risk, but don't leave the party now 25.08.2026 58min

  Rob Williams, chief investment strategist at Sage Advisory Services, says that investors are seeing cracks in this seemingly unbreakable market trend, noting that the capital expenditures trends that have been driving the market can't continue forever, but notes that "it's hard to leave the party when the party could go on for another year or two," so he is calling for more sensibly tackling risk rather than trying to beat a downturn by doing a full portfolio overhaul. Williams notes that conditions are suggesting there will be more volatility and sideways bumpt action, but says "it's hard to fight a market where you're pumping close to a trillion dollars in [capital expenditures] into the system and it's trickling across the economy and you have double-digit earnings," so the rally can continue even if it gets more volatility and returns become more muted. Lawrence McMillan, president of McMillan Analysis, talks technical analysis and says the number to be watching for is 7,600 on the Standard & Poor's 500, which is both support and the high prior to the latest run-up. Typically, McMillan says, market volatility picks up with the arrival of the fall, and he says if that happens and the market drops below 7,600, it could lead "to a full-blown correction of at least 10 percent or so." But lacking that pick-up in volume and volatility, he sees any decline as a garden-variety buying opportunity. Macmillan also notes that from a technical standpoint, the market's charts are not reminding him of bubbles and problematic times of the past, but he adds that "When people are talking about the bubble, it's probably not going to happen." Plus, Chuck talks with David Cowen, president and chief executive officer of the Museum of American Finance — the nation's only independent museum dedicated to preserving, exhibiting and teaching American finance and financial history — which opened in Boston at the start of July, and which Chuck toured recently. Cowen discusses more than the museum, its mission and how they have made a museum that won't bore all of the people who have no interest in money, to discuss how so much of the financial history of America remains relevant today, even in the face of a $40 trillion national debt.
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  Louie Navellier on the U.S. 'still winning' despite the nervous headlines 24.08.2026 58min

  Veteran Wall Street analyst and money manager Louie Navellier, president of Navellier & Associates, has been saying since the outbreak of war in the Middle East that the domestic stock market and the energy industry would be big winners from the situation, and he says those conditions have played out and will continue for the foreseeable future. While Navellier acknowledges investor concerns over the levels of Treasury-bond yields, the national debt and more, he does not think they are enough to do more than slow an economy that is in the middle of its latest industrial revolution, so while he is not ignoring the worries, he suggests investors not be too consumed by them.  In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, also weighs in on high yields and the record debt level, but notes that the market and the economy has dealt with and powered through those problems in the past, particularly during times of economic expansion. He looks ahead to Nvidia, whose Wednesday earnings report will dominate markets this week, and examines how hedges funds and institutional investors will soon be able to use prediction markets to generate investment returns, and why this is more an evolution of how things are traded than it is some embrace of gambling. Plus, Kyle Guske, investment analyst at New Constructs revisits SNAP, a stock which has lost roughly 80 percent of its value since it was first put into "The Danger Zone" a few years ago, but which he says has real potential to go the rest of the way to zero based on its business prospects, cash burn and more.
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  Long-short manager Lamensdorf says the market is overdue for a correction 21.08.2026 59min

  Brad Lamensdorf, manager of the Ranger Equity Bear ETF and Alpha Alts — a new long-short hedge fund set to open soon — says he thinks the market is due for a bear market, and the indicators are starting to show signs of stress, setting it up to get knocked down. He worries the trigger might be what's happening in the bond market, where higher rates are going to slow the economy, triggering a correction  or worse. Lamendorf says that over the next few years, "there will be a very large layer of stocks that don't do well ... struggling under this environment and valuation." While Lamensdorf focuses mostly on the equity markets' reaction to Treasury rates hitting their highest level this week in nearly 20 years, John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors weighs in on what it means for income-oriented investors, particularly in closed-end funds. He says the Treasury situation — including the U.S. Treasury announcing it would double its buy-back capacity — currently calls for portfolio tilts and mild changes, but notes he will be watching for bigger buying opportunities. Ryan Jacob, chief investment officer of the Jacob Funds, discusses technology stocks in the Market Call. Jacob, who was the manager of the first pure-play Internet fund during the late 1990s, also compares the artificial-intelligence revolution to the Internet situation, sizing up the similarities and whether the current bull market has to come to a similarly ugly end.
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  Baird's Diederich: High yields give investors ballast amid A.I. revolution 20.08.2026 1h 2min

  Gabe Diederich, portfolio manager on the municipal income team at Baird, says that yields are back near the upper end of their recent ranges, "capturing the imagination of investors" searching for income at a time when the stock market is making them nervous. Diederich discusses how artificial-intelligence is impacting bond markets, between municipalities financing infrastructure products or corporations issuing debt to pay for A.I.-related capital expenditures, and discusses strategies for using — or trying to eliminate — bonds as an A.I.-adjacent play, but how investors with huge expectations for artificial intelligence need to have more realistic hopes, based more around consistent returns, when it comes to bond tied to artificial intelligence. A week after making an actively managed fund filled with blue-chip growth stocks his "ETF of the Week," Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, circles back to large caps but this time selects an index-based large-cap value-oriented fund. It's a contrast in styles and management techniques that also digs into portfolio construction and the way the funds should be used by investors. In the Market Call, Erk Aydogan, co-founder of Traidechart — an app that uses artificial intelligence to examine stock prospects over different investment time frames — talks about the approach, which is designed to use computing power to determine confidence in a stock's direction and ability to deliver to investor expectations.
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  Merrill's Quinlan: Curb longer-term expectations, but buy the dips 19.08.2026 55min

  Joe Quinlan, head of CIO market strategy for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, says he expects some near-term choppiness, but longer-term he is expecting that volatility to be a buying opportunity because "the S&P 500, the U.S. economy, you want to own it forever." Quinlan says that investors need to recognize that there will be drawdowns, but they are resetting and re-pricing a market and encouraging investors to diversify, mitigate the hard times and stay focused on their ultimate goals. Quinlan says that he is not expecting a recession for several more years — until some of the artificial-intelligence frenzy calms and there's more clarity on the ultimate winners from it — but he says investors should expect a "good year" for 2027, but says he expects the market to deliver modest single-digit gains into at least 2028. Mark Hackett, chief market strategist for Nationwide, discusses survey research from the Nationwide Retirement Institute, which found that more than three-quarters of non-retired investors are concerned about a U.S. economic recession in the next 12 months, but very few of them are changing the way they invest to reflect those worries  instead, Hackett says they are buying the dips and, in some cases, taking on more risk. Hackett says it highlights another discrepancy between hard and soft data — the way that consumer sentiment numbers show that people are miserable but spending data shows they haven't curtailed habits — showcasing why Wall Street has continued climbing the proverbial wall of worry, overcoming investor fears to return to record levels. Plus, Gary Fitts, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, discusses his strategic approach to life, detailed in his new book "The Longevity Triad: A Practical Guide to Building a Strong Body, a Sharp Mind, and a Secure Future."