Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Kristian Kerr, head of macro strategy at LPL Financial, says that the market has shaken off the impact of higher oil prices, leading investors to a sense of complacency, where they think only a much higher spike in crude prices will upset the economy. He feels, however, that "the longer we are at these levels the harder it becomes to ignore," noting that the same kind of thinking can also be applied to rising bond yields, where the market is deciding just how real the fears are, but where they can't ignore the issue indefinitely. Kerr isn't calling for a major market reversal, but more for caution and diversification, because he believes that at some point many of the fears over headline risks will be realized. Author Daniel Goldie discusses his new book, out today, "The Retirement Answer: The 6 Key Decisions Every Retiree Needs to Make," which covers timing, Social Security , Medicare, distribution strategies, investments and legacy choices In the Market Call, Aniket Ullal, head of ETF data and analytics at CFRA, discusses exchange-traded funds, which sectors appear to be in favor now, the difficulties in evaluating newfangled funds with options overlays or leveraged, single-stock strategies and more.

John Kosar, chief market strategist at Asbury Research, says this is "one of the oddest markets" he's seen, with stocks nearly at record highs, two-decade highs in the yield of long-term Treasury bonds, a war, tariffs, oil priced at over $100 per barrel, and yet less stocks are making fresh highs and the Magnificent Seven stocks are carrying the load for the entire market. If the "big gorilla stocks" falter — which Kosar says is likely at some point — the market could topple like a Jenga tower. Kosar isn't out of stocks yet, but he's watching volatility and more, prepping to play defense soon. Josh Wein, portfolio manager at the Hennessy Funds, says that oil prices -- rather than Federal Reserve rate hikes — are "the big wildcard for the market" right now, noting that he expects the market to easily absorb the first two increases, and maybe more. One reason for that, Wein says, is that it's now earnings — rather than the Fed -- that are driving the market and investor sentiment. Wein, who manages 10 funds at Hennessy, says he expects a small rally as third-quarter earnings come out, getting better into the end of the year. Jeff Muhlenkamp, portfolio manager for the Muhlenkamp Fund, explains in the Market Call why his fund is holding a larger allocation to gold and gold miners than ever before in its long history, discusses valuation concerns around earnings and talks about why the "hold" decision is as important as the buys and sells.

David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs has been cautious about artificial-intelligence stocks for a long time, noting that few of them pass his firm's rigorous evaluation criteria to be "attractive" investments, but he now says that liquidity concerns for the big-name A.I. players have him convinced that the market is in an A.I. bubble. That doesn't mean a crash is imminent — he notes that "Bubbles can go on for a long time" — but he says that once liquidity dries up, trouble will come quickly. Trainer says recent signs of shrinking liquidity include: delayed IPOs, "skyrocketing borrowing costs," a rapid rise in the cost of default credit swaps (which protect investors against default), " and a "risk-free rate" that's saying it's way more expensive to borrow. It adds up to a building problem that he says is closer to the edge, but is largely ignored in the other, more popular conversations about what's potentially wrong with A.I. Joanne Bianco, senior investment strategist at BondBloxx, says that the surge in Treasury yields to levels not seen in decades "is beyond most people's expectations," but she says higher rates haven't been scary yet because strong economic conditions have kept the market stable. That will persist for at least one more rate hike by the Federal Reserve — which the market already seems to be pricing in — but how she says it is less clear how the market will respond if there are more hikes down the line. She discusses the parts of the yield curve and risk spectrum she finds most attractive right now, given the rate picture, inflation and more. And — in an interview that goes in directions opposite to the others — Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, says he's not buying A.I. panic stories, noting that he believes they are mostly about the industry's powerbrokers trying to create "regulatory capture," using rules where the real purpose is to protect their current competitive advantages. He also discusses the sudden rise in bond yields and the potential risk that poses to bond fund investors, suggesting they'd be better off holding bonds directly, planning to capture the yield to maturity, and using a laddered approach so that higher-rate paper is routinely being added to the portfolio as rates climb. Plus, Vijay talks about the rise in 401(k) millionaires, and how it's more a phenomenon of market growth and inflation than a meaningful milestone, noting that savers should focus on their needs and whether their plan and savings level will get them to a level of sufficiency.

Brian Levitt, chief global market strategist at Invesco, says investors are watching dual forces at play: a structural growth story in artificial intelligence and a cyclical upswing in the global economy. That has allowed the market to "absorb all of this," from higher oil prices and rising Treasury yields to the first of what will likely be multiple interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Levitt discounted most of the worrisome factors investors have been focused on with the market, saying "The onus is on the bears at this point" to show that potential troubles will play out. He doesn't believe that stocks are overvalued or that higher energy prices or borrowing costs will break the artificial-intelligence development cycle, which he thinks remains in its early stages of powering the market higher. In The NAVigator segment, Matt Kence of Aberdeen Investments, discusses  the current state of the high-yield market and how it has been responding to rising interest rates. Kence, the portfolio manager for the Aberdeen Credit Income Strategies fund says fundamentals remain fundamentals remain surprisingly robust, leverage levels overall are moderate and interest coverage remains strong, with defaults in the high-yield space well below long-term averages. Kence also discusses the impact that artificial intelligence is making on the market, noting that A.I.-adjacent industries like power generation feel stable but have narrow spreads, making A.I.-direct companies the better pick for attractive opportunities right now. Plus, Natalie Iannello of Digital Third Coast discusses survey research done for BPG Inspections which found that 44% of Americans have experienced a moving issue or scam. Among the most-common problems encountered during moves: hidden fees or unexpected upcharges, belongings damaged without compensation, and delayed delivery.

Paula Pant, host of the Afford Anything podcast, says there are reasons why Americans feel like they can afford nothing these days, despite a stock market and economy that clearly are representing good times, noting that individuals are stuck in the contrast between rising asset values and stagnant income. "Your 401k balance might be doing really well, but you can't eat that," she says, which creates some level of financial strain. Pant also covers the importance of understanding inflation, setting spending priorities so that you can, indeed, afford anything while recognizing that you can't afford everything. Personal finance expert Jean Chatzky discusses her latest book, "The Forever Paycheck: The New Retirement Strategy to Spend More, Worry Less, and Never Run Out of Money," and how she has come to see that much of conventional financial planning is focused incorrectly on how much someone needs to save rather than centering on how to generate sufficient income to live out their lives comfortably and without compromising on the things they most value. Beyond discussing how to create a lifetime paycheck using bank accounts, bonds and annuities, Jean highlights research showing that people with a structured income feel free to spend more of their money, rather than keeping their life savings tied up out of a fear of running out of money. Plus, Melissa Stephenson discusses survey research done for CGTrader.com, a 3d model marketplace, which showed that rising costs have been impacting home repairs, with more than 60% of homeowners recently delaying repairs due to cost, and the same percentage saying that those higher costs make them more likely to try fixing something on their own rather than hiring an expert. Nearly half of the respondents said they could not comfortably cover a $250 surprise repair out of pocket.

Joe Saul-Sehy, host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast, visits Money Life to catch Chuck up on the things he missed at FinCon 2026 — held last week in California — but also to discuss how the personal finance world is changing in the face of lingering inflation, rising interest rates, increased influence from artificial intelligence, Robert Kiyosaki's $1.2 billion debt problem and much more. Saul-Sehy also discusses so-called "safe withdrawal rates," and says the "4 percent rule" drives him crazy, because it puts the focus on accumulating wealth rather than "creating a fulfilling life." Author Renee Bryan discusses her book "The Morality of Money: Remove Fear and Discover Financial Freedom Through Simple Economic Principles and Universal Truths," and the intersection of faith and finance. Bryan talks about how economic principles can align with being a good person, and advocates for using moral principles to guide financial decisions, suggesting that a positive mindset can lead to personal prosperity. Plus, Carlo Versano, director of politics and culture at Newsweek, discusses their recently reached American Dream Index, which examines how Americans perceive their ability to achieve success, prosperity, and upward mobility, looking at the issue from perceptions for the whole country down into attitudes in cities and states. The overall scores indicated a struggle across the board and, in fact, no state achieved a score above 70 on a scale of 100. That doesn't mean the American Dream is dead — far from it, according to Versano — but it does mean that people may need to choose different paths and different locations to have the best chance of achieving it in their lives.

Matthew Timpane, senior market strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research, says he expects the market to rally once the midterm elections are through, particularly because the third-year of the presidential cycle tends to be the most bullish, most notably the first half of those years. For the short-term — as the market finishes a September in which it has shown none of the usual seasonal signs of distress and rolls into October — Timpane sees a market that could get to roughly 8100 on the Standard & Poor's 500, with downside support at 7500, and growing firmer at 7,250 should some news trigger a slightly bigger sell-off.  David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group and owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, discusses his new book, released today, "Inside the Owner's Box: Conversations on Power and Leadership in Sports." In a wide-ranging interview, Rubenstein also discusses the impact that gambling generally and prediction markets most recently have had on sports, on how measuring success as the owner of a sports team is different than weighing it in the ordinary business world and more. In the Market Call, Elliott Gue, editor at Energy & Income Advisor, discusses how the buildout of artificial intelligence and its seemingly insatiable need for power is impacting energy stocks. Gue, who publishes the Free Market Speculator on Substack, notes that the capital expenditures boom may force energy/income investors to decide if they want to trade some steadiness of income for the hope of a higher total return.

Alex Edmans, author of "The Madness of Markets: Why Smart Investors Make Crazy Decisions - And How to Exploit Them," says that even smart investors sometimes make poor financial decisions, noting that overconfidence, fear, excitement, and the tendency to overreact to market news can cause investors to trade too frequently and buy high/sell low. Edmans says the financial industry is amplifying these mistakes by making trading easier (encouraging activity that generates fees or spreads), and recommends identifying and acknowledging psychological weaknesses and favoring simple strategies such as diversification, long-term investing, and broad-market index funds. He also discusses how seemingly irrelevant emotions -- including reactions to sports results -- can influence investment decisions in ways most of us would never consider as possible.   In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses whether the creation of an "A.I. Force" and appointment of an "A.I. czar" could control and improve the development process or slow it down and set it back. Speaking of setbacks, Marolia also discusses Anthropic's plans for an IPO that could be valued at $2 trillion, and whether the company whose CEO set off a lot of the alarm bells on A.I. should pause its offering until there is more clarity on the future regulation of the industry. Plus, personal finance guru Robert Kiyosaki has had some setbacks and is $1.2 billion in debt; the amount is crazy, but Marolia considers whether the best-selling author behind "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is crazy like a fox. Kyle Guske, investment analyst at New Constructs, says that one overlooked aspect of the A.I. build-out is that all of the ballyhooed capital expenditures are starting to show up on company books, but they're doing it in places that mostly go unnoticed. Guske says that if the AI companies in the top 25 of the S&P 500 wanted to earn an adequate return on invested capital on their trillions in new AI-related debt, they must generate $1.4 trillion in new profit on top of what they already earn, and says he doesn't think most investors are pricingin that risk. As a result, he put "the most wanted earnings manipulators" in The Danger Zone, and documented how the A.I. buildout is ballooning the balance sheets of some of the world's largest companies.

Dan Sotiroff, associate director of passive strategies at Morningstar goes "Off The News" discussing the firm's just-released "State of US ETFs 2026" report, which found that heightened competition is increasingly pushing fund firms to open "complex, narrowly focused strategies that may resemble gambling more than long-term investing. He says that the issues are strange and getting weirder, citing examples of ETFs now tied to everything from election results to hockey scores, and while many of those new funds have not opened to investors yet, they are the logical extension of single-stock funds and other new issues that offer investors new ways to play the market. While Sotiroff notes that there have been sound improvements in a few of the newfangled funds, there are more potential gambles than real investing. Ian Cassel, founder of MicroCapClub, discusses his new book, "Stock Picker: How to Develop the Mindset, Temperament, and Strategy to Outperform Wall Street," and the importance of finding solid fundamentals and profits to select tiny stocks with the potential to beat the odds and grow into big profits and status as a large- or mega-cap company. And in "The NAVigator," Young Choi, portfolio manager for the XAI Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust, says the explosion in specialty ETFs dedicated to investing in collateralized loan obligations has changed the CLO market, compressing spreads and changing some buying opportunities. In "The NAVigator," Choi also  discusses differences between the private credit and CLO markets, noting that any blow-up or problem in the private space could have spillover effects that create buying opportunities in CLOs.

Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife John Hancock Investments, says that investors have been making themselves miserable while living through "the greatest four-year bull market in S&P 500 history," which may make them too worried about interest rate hikes. She says the market and economy are strong enough to push through rate hikes, at least until the Federal Reserve moves them up at least three times, and the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury gets to about 5.5%, which she thinks could be "the line in the sand" where the market stops shrugging off the hikes. "Economic cycles don't die of old age," Roland says, "they're killed by the Fed." As a result, she is recommending investors lean into high-quality bonds in the middle of the yield curve, noting that "Every stock on the planet is loved and every bond on the planet is hated right now; I will tell you from experience that investors tend to hate bonds right before they love them again." In the Book Interview, Lindsay Crouse discusses "The Case for Quitting: The Surprising Benefits of Opting Out," which is as much about personal habits as it is jobs and work. Crouse says people learn about themselves just by considering breaking habits, giving up things that "they've always done" that no longer play the same role in their lives, and just by considering what would happen if they simply stopped doing certain things in their lives, noting that it can reaffirm their commitment or help them see the benefits of change. Chip Lupo discusses the latest retirement savings survey from WalletHub, which found that 7 in 10 people believe a pension is better than a 401(k). To that end, more than half of Americans say they would prefer to pay a 12.4% Social Security tax to get double the benefits rather than the 6.2% tax that delivers current benefits levels. Lacking the stable, consistent support of a pension and dealing with current Social Security benefits levels is why 43 percent of survey respondents believe it is not realistic for the average American to expect to retire comfortably. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

Andrew Foster, founder and co-chief investment officer at Seafarer Capital Partners, says he thinks "a bubble has formed amongst certain artificial intelligence stocks, particularly some of those that were propelling Korea higher," but despite that emerging markets are coming out of a lost decade and the "picture in the emerging markets [outside of the inflating bubble] is quite broad-based and good." Fostesays investors should be looking to emerging markets to get non-dollar exposure and diversification, but also for growth that will accelerate over 60 percent in the next year, and while much of the growth is driven by the tech sector — where he worries about the bubble — the growth rate excluding technology is over 20 percent, which should generate strong returns moving forward, even as the building bubble deflates. Dawn Wotapka, former director of strategic communications and media relations at Honeywell, talks about what it's like to lose a job in an economy that is near full employment but artificial intelligence is making the employment picture murkier. Wotapka, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, recently wrote a piece on LinkedIn on going through a job loss that's been longer than expected from when the layoffs were announced, and how she has made it that her story was not the classic "It's a depression when you lose your job" tale. Plus, Chuck responds to a listener's question about a recent interview that suggested that investors have no reason to hold bonds, and how his own opinion differs from the expert who was on the show, but not by as much as the long-time listener who wrote the question might think.

Brad Neuman, director of market strategy at Alger,  says the market is wrapping up "one of the strongest earnings seasons in history," which has created "incredible metrics" creating the impression that the market has gotten overvalued while he thinks that stocks haven't been able to keep up with earnings, which actually makes current valuations more attractive even as the market flirts with record highs. Neuman says he is not particularly worried about inflation, because he thinks A.I.-driven productivity gains will offset higher prices, but he notes that with artificial intelligence being "as significant to the human race as fire or electricity" there is the potential for a bubble, but he doesn't see that happening until 2028 at the earliest. David Trainer, president at New Constructs, calls out trouble in stocks he labels as "five-alarm cash fires," companies that are burning so much cash to keep pace in the artificial-intelligence race that — without an influx of capital — they will soon run out of cash and be forced to dilute investors' holdings to get more. He says the problem is that big-name stocks like Oracle and Amazon.com are now priced as if they will be winners in the A.I. arms race, and they are spending as if they have won the competition, when he considers it very unclear as to just who will be the ultimate victors in the A.I. revolution. In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses the upcoming earnings reports for WalMart and Target, which he expects to be a better measure of ongoing consumer confidence than any survey results, showing that consumers have not curtailed spending despite inflation concerns. He also discusses Goldman Sachs' big move into the ETF space, and how he feels about the national debt for the United States hitting $40 trillion — a mark it is expected to reach by the end of the month — and whether it impacts his view on government bonds.

Jesse Mecham, founder of the YNAB (You Need a Budget) app, discusses his new book, "Never Worry About Money Again: By Asking One Question," in which he tries to change America's money mindset by getting them to realize that money is a reflection of the efforts, time and inputs that were required to get it, and that spending money should also reflect its true value. By focusing on money's intentions — and the spender's designs for it — Mecham says in The Book Interview that consumers can eliminate their spending problems and, in time, most of their financial worries. John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors, looks at several closed-end funds that were recently hyped in the media for their high yields, and he puts those funds to the challenge of his firm's "trifecta analysis," which shows they may not be worth the hype. Scott — who also serves as chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance — looks at the shortcomings of using rigid rules or looking at only one primary factor in a buying decision, and offers alternatives that investors could consider instead of the hyped fund to build a portfolio that delivers the same kinds of results but with less risk and uncertainty. In the Market Call, Ray Vars, president at Harding Loevner — which recently opened its first ETF, the Harding Loevner International Developed Markets Select Equity fund — discusses global markets and economics.

Robert Pozen, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, says that investors with significant savings should eschew classic 60-40 diversification strategies for a mix that is almost entirely stocks, with no bonds at all. That strategy might sound odd, considering the source — Pozen is the former president of Fidelity Investments — but Pozen contends that long-term investors will be better off bucking up for the market's ride than they will be trying to protect themselves from downturns where the pain will be relatively short-lived. Pozen, who detailed his research in a recent Wall Street Journal column titled  "You're Probably Overinvested in Bonds," recognizes that his strategy will shake up portfolios, but says it also gives investors permission to let their winnings run, provided they don't have to tap the investments in order to meet living expenses. In the ETF of the Week, Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, is highlighting an ETF focused on blue-chip stocks, which requires defining what blue-chips really are and how it's not just the Magnificent Seven or the current mega-cap market leaders. He also notes how active management with brand-name companies can deliver returns that are different from index results, even if there is significant overlap on the names in a portfolio.  Plus, Ken Applegate, portfolio manager for the Wasatch International Growth and Global Opportunities funds, talks international small-cap investing in the Money Life Market Call.

Wayne Penello, president and chief executive officer at NextGen EMP, says he expects the Standard & Poor's 500 to double in the next five years, in the "greatest bull market we have seen in 60 to 80 years," though he acknowledges that this kind of rise ultimately will end in a bubble. He thinks the market can rally, with only modest to moderate corrections, before it reaches that crescendo, and says investors should be watching for the point where artificial intelligence is over-saturating the market to where prices collapse to see when that is likely to happen. Penello, a Wall Street veteran whose firm recently opened the Efficient Market Portfolio Plus ETF — a long-short fund that tries to balance risks by leaning into or away from market sectors, says he is leaning into semiconductors, particularly when the market sorus on them, and is going light or away from consumer discretionary stocks and utilities. Olivia Valdes, senior researcher at the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, updates us on the group's study of financial frauds. FINRA recently released "Patterns in Fraud Awareness: What Comes to Mind When Americans Think About Financial Fraud," which asked people to name the common schemes and tactics fraudsters use, and found that even identity-based crimes — the thievery that most Americans are aware of and cautious about — was top of mind for only half of the population. Valdes says this helps to explain how even savvy consumers get taken in by schemes, as fraud losses in the U.S. now run at nearly $200 billion per year.  In the Money Life Market Call, Stefan Grater, portfolio manager overseeing the domestic and international value strategies at Eldred Rock Partners, discusses his disciplined, concentrated approach to value investing.

Brian Allen, chief investment officer at CS McKee, says that while stock valuations are at "heady levels," the current spending expectations for the artificial intelligence revolution can justify those high prices, and even make them seem somewhat cheap. He notes that the current economy seems like "the gilded age and industrial revolution repeated some 135 years later." While concerned with valuations, Allen remains constructive on the market, noting that the trend on forward inflation "looks to be more under control" — especially when viewed through some alternative indicators — and that investor concerns don't appear insurmountable for the market, at least for now. In the Market Call, Laks Ganapathi, chief executive officer at Unicus Research — an independent research firm that specializes in short selling — discusses how she decides which stocks to bet against, what conditions she won't challenge even when she foresees trouble ahead and more. Plus, Chuck talks about his adventures in spending and saving on a big purchase during the tax-free weekend in Massachusetts and how, to maximize the savings, he agreed to an outrageous credit card interest rate that, for a less-vigilant consumer, would quickly turn a good deal into something very ugly.

Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, says that while the stock market has been climbing the wall of worry, the one thing overcoming many of those worries has been that government policy is pro-business and pro-market. As a result, he doesn't expect the stock market to have a down year while President Trump is in office, despite real economic concerns that are worrisome but not having much current impact. He discusses Friday's jobs numbers, the current level of inflation and much more in a wide-ranging Big Interview. In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses whether gold's recent rebound will get it all the way back to recent record levels, whether value's domination of growth this year is a sign of long-term market weakness — since value typically dominates only when markets are troubled — and celebrates the 91st birthday of Social Security by noting that he thinks investors with the means to not live off payments shouldn't follow conventional wisdom and wait to collect, preferring instead for them to take the money and reinvest it in the market, to further enhance growth of their long-term retirement portfolio. David Trainer, president at New Constructs, puts companies that failed his firm's "core earnings leaders" test in The Danger Zone, noting that businesses with higher core earnigns than generally-accepted accounting earnings tend to be more profitable than the market realizes, which means that companies which fail to meet core-earnings tests may be headed for trouble, as they will be less profitable than expected. He cites NXP Semiconductors as an example of a stock that has become grossly overvalued because the market isn't looking at its true earnings picture.

Greg Harmon, founder and president at Dragonfly Capital Management, says the market's bounce this week is a potential sign that the market's next move higher could be starting now. Harmon says the market is broadening out, and has come through "a great earnings season," creating "a strong market, fundamentally and technically." Harmon sees some potential problems, but he says that the market's ability to shrug off bad news will get helped out as some of those worrisome events get solved and fall by the wayside; that leaves him looking at a strong finish to the year for the market, and a good start to 2027 barring "an unexpected crisis." Rob Shaker, portfolio manager at Shaker Financial Services — which uses a discount-capture strategy with closed-end funds — says that he's seen a lot of "good widenings" of discounts as the market returned to peak levels. A good widening is one where a fund's net asset value goes up more than the price of the closed-end fund itself. It happens when markets get volatile and indexes pull up faster than closed-end funds can move, creating attractive buying opportunities.  In the Other Interview on today's show, James Barra, head of content and research at BrokerListings.com, discusses "Financial Literacy in the TikTok Era: Who Should You Trust," a research paper the site published that took a scientific approach to looking at the financial information on TikTok. Barra says that there's a wide range of content, but an alarming amount of it is "potentially problematic, high risk and largely untrustworthy." Over 70 percent of creators on TikTok have no clear background in financial services and no relevant qualifications and about two-thirds of the content failed to disclose downsides to the advice, conflicts of interest the creator has and more.

Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management, entered the year saying that the stock market could "4-peat," by posting its fourth consecutive year of double-digit gains. While he says now that the market and economy have legitimate concerns to overcome, they also have fundamentals in place to do just that, setting up the potential for a 5-peat in 2027. Haworth does suggest that investors diversify further to help get them through the trouble spots, but he suggests putting more focus on domestic markets than international, being certain not to get too overloaded in the hot sectors and looking into parts of the fixed-income market where higher yields have been mostly overlooked. Ron Mastrogiovanni, chief executive officer at HealthView Services, discusses the firm's recent research, titled "Social Security Solvency & Retirement Planning: Calculating Lost Benefits and Income Solutions," which examines the financial impact of potential Social Security benefits reductions on future retirees. The report shows that, without steps to fully fund the program, a 54-year-old couple retiring in eight years receiving average Social Security benefits could lose more than $160,000 over their lifetime, with high-income families losing as much as $500,000. Even if changes are made to extend solvency, Mastrogiovanni suggests everyone — even younger workers — should consider the possibility of lower Social Security benefits as they make retirement plans. With small-cap stocks staging a strong rally this year — the small-cap index is up more than 20 percent year-to-date — Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi turns to an Avantis fund as his ETF of the Week, noting that the fund brings active management to stock selection, but does less trading than the small-cap index funds that regularly re-constitue as the benchmark changes.

Anthony Caruso, head of ETFs and product strategy at Nomura Asset Management International, says that while artificial intelligence is driving the market, it is also creating opportunities through its struggles, whether that is by punishing companies in industries like software, or forcing capital expenditures and more. He notes that there are strategies in playing the tight supply chains, particularly if investors are willing to consider emerging markets investments. Atthe same time, Caruso — who does not have recession in his outlook for the next year — says that with interest rates higher for longer, investors should take advantage of fixed-income to balance out a portfolio and help them ride out the volatility story. Paula Fleming, chief marketing officer for the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont, discusses savings strategies and the importance of knowing the rules for special days, weeks and weekends when states rescind their sales tax. There's one of those this coming weekend in Massachusetts — but Fleming notes that about half of all states have had some sort of tax-relief day in the last few years and 20 are holding them in 2026 — and Chuck discusses his shopping strategy and planned purchase to capture the discount on a big expense. In the Market Call, Daniel Dusina, chief investment officer at Blue Chip Partners discusses "unappreciated quality stocks" and how even some big names that have run up still qualify.

Dean Christians, lead market strategist at Turning Point Market Research, sees a market that stays in a range-bound no-man's land — the way it has been for a few months now — until late in the year, when there's a strong chance of a year-end rally. Christians says there is a lot of sector rotation happening beneath the surface, with new areas picking up momentum while others, like technology, are losing steam. As a result, he says, "the best course of action is really not to do a whole lot," while waiting for the Federal Reserve to decide its course, which will have the biggest influence on what the market does entering the new year. Meredith Mangan, managing editor at Credible, discusses the site's survey which found that nearly two-thirds of American homeowners underestimated the true cost of homeownership, and the result, on average, amounts to nearly $5,000 per year in unexpected ownership costs. In the Market Call, David Snowball, publisher and chief analyst at MutualFundObserver.com, discusses the future of traditional mutual funds, the evolution of ETFs and how new funds today are different from classic offerings before getting down to some funds he likes and dislikes.

Jeff Klingelhofer, portfolio manager at Aristotle Pacific Capital, says that new Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh is learning on the job, but he appears unafraid to tackle the inflation problem and take the tough medicine of raising interest rates, which is likely to create a recession. The good news out of that trouble, however, is that any downturn is likely to be short-lived, with a rip-snorting bull market emerging from a corrected economy and market.  David Trainer, president at New Constructs, revisits Netflix, a long-time Danger Zone pick that he says has moved out of trouble. While it hasn't gone all the way to the "attractive" level, Trainer says there is a much stronger path toward bigger profits and a better balance sheet. In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia,  chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses a little-known hedge fund that collapsed last week, and nearly took the stock market with it. While the fund was bailed out by another hedge fund, Marolia worries that there are other potential market-shockers out there, far more than even savvy investors recognize, and that there may not be any buffers to step in and save the day the next time it happens. In addition, he discusses how earnings expectations have gotten so high that long-term investors need to grit their teeth and ride out extra volatility, and he talks about how artificial intelligence is teaching investors to want everything now, shortening time horizons, promoting excessive risk-taking and creating unrealistic ideas of what real investing can deliver.

Christian Chan, chief investment officer at AssetMark, says that the overall macroeconomic environment is okay — growing above trend but not at exciting levels — but inflation is worrisome, which should have investors looking elsewhere for diversification and protection. The protection side is because he feels fixed-income investments are not as effective at diversifying risk in an inflationary environment. As a result, he is looking at adding precious metals to portfolios, but he also says increasing international exposure and moving from technology and moving toward energy and consumer-driven sectors should smooth out the ride in a volatile market. In the Talking Technicals segment, Jason Brown of The Brown Report, says he remains bullish in the long-term, but he is bearish for the short term because he wonders "What remains that can take us higher?" Brown, who hosts the "Money, Markets and Mindset" podcast says while there are some positive signs keeping the market stable, "We might be due for a re-set." Factoring in inflation, oil prices, a divided Fed on rate policy and other economic danger signs, he expects the stock market to be trapped in a range, and potentially rolling over. Scott Caraher, head of senior loans at Nuveen, says that the higher-for-longer interest rate environment has created "one of the most interesting and dynamic times" he has seen for senior loans in his 25-year career. Caraher, who manages Nuveen Floating Rate Income in both its closed-end and open-end forms, says that because senior loans don't face interest-rate risk, they are a powerful play in a market where Federal Reserve policy on rate direction is uncertain, noting that it's possible to create strong portfolios yielding about 7 percent, which he called "incredibly attractive ... on both an absolute and relative basis."

Economist Rebecca Homkes, a lecturer at Duke University and London Business School whose consulting practice focuses on the things that influence the thinking of chief executives, says that the valuations of A.I. companies are sky high because investors believe in the transformational technology, but that when that transformation shows up — and investors worry that an industry like software could get pinched in the transformation — investors tend to panic. She sees concerns that the A.I. funding cycle has become so circular that any troubles could unwind the market quickly, so while she is not expecting a recession or a bubble quickly, she does suggest danger signs are visible now. Carter Braxton Worth, chief executive officer at Worth Charting — known by many as "the Chart Master" on CNBC — brings technical analysis to the Market Call, noting that he doesn't study companies, he studies shares. Worth notes that he currently favors small-cap financials, utilities and energy companies, and he warns of the "bifurcation of technology," where one area of the sector does very well while another one does very poorly, which he considers a sign of potential trouble ahead. This bifurcation is similar -- but with a technical analysis bent -- to Homkes' explanation of the wild market responses to AI stocks. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, brings the proverbial hammer of THOR to the ETF of the Week, bestowing the weekly title to a new income-focused stock fund  from Thornburg that carries that mythic ticker symbol.

David Ellison, portfolio manager for the Hennessy Funds, says that investor expectations have gotten far enough out of line that the positive conditions and long-term market uptrend just don't seem like they are enough to deliver satisfaction. While unsustainable expectations by themselves won't create a downturn, Ellison — who runs two funds focused on financial-services companies — worries that the sector and the broad market will face more volatility as steady but unspectacular gains are seen as disappointments. He notes that markets can struggle when everyone lacks patience and "thinks they have learned the lesson without reading the book." Research analyst Matt Zajechowski discusses a survey conducted by Lemon Law Experts which found that the typical American with car buying regrets believes they overspent by nearly $5,000 on their most recent car. It also found that car buyers often regret everything from the technology they wish their latest car had to the color they picked, and that any and all regrets have them thinking they will sell their car sooner than they expected when they purchased it. In the Market Call, Garvin Jabusch, chief investment officer at Green Alpha Advisors, is talking stocks, and discussing "strategic resilience" as an investment thesis and factor that helps to identify companies with long-term stability amid fast-changing industries. 

Economist Lawrence Kotlikoff, a professor at Boston University and the founder of Maxifi, says that "irrational exuberance" is something that routinely returns to the market, which is why so many crises over history get labeled with the word "panic," and while he does not see current conditions leading to that yet, he does think the market and economy have significantly more downside risk than upside potential right now. Kotlikoff, a prolific author on the markets and economy, says investors should be taking advantage of high real returns on inflation-protected bonds and less interested in a stock market that feels like it is building a bubble. He also discusses the future of Social Security, which he has researched extensively, and says it needs a complete overhaul, because the math on short-term fixes gets ugly for individual Americans fast. In an extended Money Life Market Call, Tom Plumb, portfolio manager for The Plumb Funds — Plumb Equity and Plumb Balanced — discusses finding "disruptive growth companies," and notes that while everyone wants to assume that all artificial-intelligence related stocks are "disruptive," the reality of who will be the ultimate winners and losers amid the new technology is less clear than the market currently makes it out to be.

David Trainer, founder and president of New Constructs, puts some big-name soon-to-IPO artificial-intelligence companies in The Danger Zone this week, saying he has concerns about what they are paying for inputs compared to foreign competitors, and noting that cost disadvantages will multiply and worsen the more A.I. becomes a commodity that everyone uses. He says this is part of every industrial revolution cycle, and often becomes a big determinant in which early players survive and thrive. In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses today's launch of single-stock futures by the CME Group, noting that they are more a gamble than an investment and saying he never would have used them for ordinary consumers during his days as a financial planner. Where the herd is moving towards these instruments and being scared out of some A.I. companies based on the market's capital-spending concerns, Marolia says most of those market fears have been overblown, and that a careful long-term investor will find buying opportunities amid the near daily wreckage. Plus, he discusses how high electric bills — jacked up by a heat wave that has caused high usage but also by energy concerns — are the extra cost consumers are not talking about while they are busy complaining about gas prices.  Charles Rotblut, vice president for the American Association of Individual Investors, discusses their latest sentiment survey results, which showed a striking drop in optimism, with bullish sentiment levels dropping by more than 15 percentage points last week as the war in Iran started heating up again. Bullish sentiment was well below its historical averages for the third time in the last four weeks, while bearish sentiment reached levels Rotblut characterized as "unusually high." Bearish sentiment has been above its historical averages for nearly 6 months straight. Martha Moore discusses the latest Business Conditions Survey out today from the National Association for Business Economics, which showed that confidence in the economy has improved but the caution level remains high. Moore, the chief economist for the American Chemistry Council, noted that for the fifth time in the last six quarters, the number of economists predicting lower forward profits was bigger than those expecting higher earnings, but she also said that more than one third of the economists are expecting higher capital expenditures over the next quarter, spending that will boost the economy in the face of mixed results on profitability.

Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X ETFs, says that while the Iran War got the headlines, trade negotiations will be the story that carries the market forward for the rest of the year, provided there are no policy stumbles. He says the market has calmed down around Fed policy and while midterm elections tend to make for tough markets, there have been strongly positive results after midterms when a unified power structure — the President, Senate and Congress all being on one side of the political aisle — transitions to a divided leadership. Helfstein has plenty of reasons for optimism, noting all of the ways the market and economy have powered through trouble, and says that he expects slower earnings growth but better profitability from the market moving into next year, and he notes that better profitability leads to higher multiples, a healthy economy and higher level for the stock market. John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors, dug into data from his firm's quarterly outlook presentation to show that while business-development companies faced a lot of headline and interest-rate risk and were beaten up in the market recently, they are poised to rebound sharply in the second half of the year, particularly as the Federal Reserve provides more clarity on what's next for interest rates. Scott, the chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance, noted that closed-end funds had a strong quarter b ut that the gains came more from rising prices than from narrowing discounts, a sign that good things could be ahead if market sentiment gets stronger. Allison Hadley discusses PartnerCentric's 2026 Buy Now, Pay Later survey, which showed that payment programs are a big way that consumers are dealing with higher inflation and lower affordability. The survey showed that use of BNPL programs is up 20% year over year, but the typical buy now, pay later transaction amount has gotten smaller, which Hadley says is a sign that people are increasingly turning to payment programs for ordinary, everyday purchases.

Chris Retzler, portfolio manager for the Needham Funds, says that the stock market is benefitting from an artificial-intelligence powered industrial revolution "that we haven't seen the likes of in a very long time," but he says that this will not end the way the Internet bubble did because the players have strong balance sheets and prospects. Retzler thinks there is a strong fundamental story that can lead the market higher from here, and that the small-cap rally that has powered recent gains is a long-term shift that should bring smaller companies back to their traditional role of providing a higher-risk, higher-reward investment option. He worries about the potential impact of inflation and the timing and magnitude of any interest rate hikes, but he says the base case is for current conditions to remain in place and largely unchanged for several months. Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, makes JPMorgan Core Plus Bond his ETF of the Week, noting that the fund has seen strong inflows to match its recent strong performance, citing low fees for active management and a yield of roughly 5% as other key factors to consider. Plus, Stanford University professor Tina Seelig discusses her book "What I Wish I Knew About Luck: A Crash Course on Turning Aspirations into Achievements," noting the significant difference between having good fortune and true good luck, and how individuals can make their own luck, often through small habits that amount to little more than common courtesy and good manners.

Credit expert Gerri Detweiler discusses a trend where card issuers have been re-assessing risk and reducing the credit limits for consumers — even those with good credit scores — and why those moves are a symptom of the economy and the appetite for risk, rather than a reflection of you and your financial habits. Detweiler — who recently wrote about this issue for CardRates.com — says that limit cuts don't just reduce financing options, but it can impact credit scores and drop them, even if the consumer is not considered high-risk. Consumers get notices about limit cuts, but Detweiler says they are often missed; she discusses the moves consumers can make to avoid, forestall or minimize the issue, and how best to handle the situation. Carrie Joy Grimes, founder of WorkMoney, discusses her new book, "The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money - No Matter How Much You Have," and how people confuse the math of money and the number they need to reach, rather than recognizing that it's how they feel about the money, choices and financial security that determine if they feel truly wealthy. She notes that most people struggle to get out of their own way when it comes to finances, blocking their own path to happiness because they are judging it on the scale of neighbors or riches, rather than on the quality of life and the control they have over their choices. Plus, Chuck talks about his long-time habit of writing down the reasons why he is buying an investment before making a purchase, and what he was thinking when he reviewed some of that paperwork during a recent clean-out of some files. It's a reminder that investments can do their job but that doesn't always make them right when your needs and time horizons change, and then how you decide whether to stay the course or change things up.

Personal finance journalist Brian O'Connor discusses his recent New York Times article "You're About to Retire. What Are You Doing for the Next 20 or 30 Years?" and explores how retirement planning is pivoting from a focus on the numbers to an emphasis on the lifestyle you want, noting that too many people miss out by putting the math first. O'Connor discusses how and why financial planning has changed, noting that previous generations were so focused on taking over responsibility for their retirement savings as pensions were phased out that they didn't consider what retirement meant beyond having no active paycheck. Allison Hadley, an analyst at Digital Third Coast, discusses a survey she did for American Home Shield looking at cost-of-living concerns for homeowners, which found that nearly half are primarily "enjoying their mortgage" this summer, cutting back on travel and socializing to deal with rising costs for gas, groceries and electricity. More than half of the homeowners surveyed worry that inflation is ruining their summer. Plus, in The Book Interview, Jack Schwager discusses his recent addition to his long-running "Market Wizards" series, discussing "Market Wizards: The Next Generation: The World's Top Young Traders Reveal How They Beat The Market."