Money Life with Chuck Jaffe

Omar Aguilar, chief executive and chief investment officer at Schwab Asset Management, says current levels of inflation and interest rate could put an end to the bull market over the next few quarters, but he doesn't think the bull market will suffer a bubble-like ending. Aguilar does have valuation concerns and thinks some repricing of future profitability around artificial intelligence is necessary, but he suggests it will be more of a pause and an adjustment than a roadblock.

Aguilar was one of the headliners at the Schwab IMPACT Conference held in Boston last week, and today represents the last of the interviews Chuck conducted at the event. Those conversations include:

-- Tom Lydon, founder of ETF Trends and chief executive officer at Global Trends Investments -- who used to be a Money Life regular and who has made over 600 appearances on the show -- discussing evolutions in the ETF business.

-- Brian Smith, head of Morgan Stanley's Wealth Education Center, talking about how high portfolio concentration risk is right now, because so few stocks make up such a large part of the big indexes, but then are also driving returns in many other parts of an ordinary investor's seemingly diversified portfolio.

-- Reed Fraasa, founder of Highland Financial Advisors, covers the importance of having a financial plan you can be comfortable with and whether high net worth clients – the people at the top of the K-shaped economy – are out of sorts like the rest of us when it comes to how they feel about living in times sticky inflation and rising interest rates.

-- Tom Haught, chairman and chief executive officer at Sequoia Financial Group, which has been aggressively buying independent firms since 2023. He speaks about the concept of adviser independence and what difference it makes for clients if they get an adviser who is a sole practitioner, the head of a small shop, affiliated with a larger firm or comes from one of the national wire house brands.

Schwab IMPACT — the world's largest conference of registered investment advisors — has ended, but Money Life's coverage of the three-day event in Boston last week resumes today with Simeon Hyman, global investment strategist at ProShares, discussing how this week's election will likely have minimal market impact, even if it is a Democratic sweep, talks about what he expects out of the Federal Reserve to do into next year and how he is reading the bond market and generating income at a time when yields are up but so are fears.

Before we get to Hyman and the other interviews from IMPACT, the talk starts with regular Monday guest Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital. In "The Week That Is," he discusses Binance and whether the world's largest cryptocurrency theft is changing or strengthening his feelings about crypto, a government report showing consumers are spending more on food and shelter as a percentage of their budget than they have in at least 15 years, and he gives his take on some of the complex financial tools that had everyone talking at Schwab IMPACT.

Then it's back to interviews recorded during the conference, featuring:

— Andrew Torok, a vice president at Vest Financial, discussing the firm's Synthetic Borrow program, which allows investors to access cash without selling their portfolios, effectively borrowing against their money like a margin loan, but without some of the risks generally associated with margin plays.

— James Kaufman, senior wealth management advisor for OpenArc Corporate Advisory talks about how the firm is preparing clients to deal with their current fears about the market turning, while still climbing the wall of worry higher.

— Mamadou-Abou Sarr, co-Founder and president of V-Square Quantitative Management, talks about portfolio construction and what most investors should be looking at to replace the classic 60-40 asset allocation.

It's Day Three of Money Life at Schwab IMPACT, the world's largest conference of registered investment advisers, and the talk ranges from buying the hottest emerging tech companies before they go public to how the artificial intelligence giants don't look so great when viewed through the lens of free cash flow, because all of the spending they are doing isn't going straight to the bottom line. Here's today's lineup: — Som Priestley, head of global investment solutions, Americas, for T. Rowe Price — co-manager of the T. Rowe Price Goldman Sachs Private Markets Fund, an interval fund that launched this summer — discusses the pre-IPO market, how it's not just about the big names that are making headlines and the risk if the headliners fall short of expectations. — Laurence Russian, founding partner at ABS Global Investments and portfolio manager of The Pre-IPO & Growth Fund — and interval fund that opened in January — addresses the same issues as Priestley, noting — Bonnie Treichel, founder and chief solutions officer at Endeavor Retirement discusses the generation of retirement savers that have never faced a bear market and how that lack of experience demands that they prepare now for that event, no matter when it might actually happen. — With portfolio personalization being one of the biggest topics at Schwab Impact, Adam Gebler, head of wealth for the Americas for FTSE Russell, discusses the company's recent survey on direct indexing, which found that advisers believe it's going mainstream now, and that advances in technology will make it easier for average investors to participate. — Michael Mack, client portfolio manager for VictoryShares, who says investors should be looking beyond the A.I. hype and use free cash-flow to determine the quality companies in technology now. Using that free cash-flow model, he notes, would eliminate a lot of the biggest A.I. names from a portfolio of quality stocks.

On Day 2 of Money Life at Schwab IMPACT, Collin Martin, head of fixed income research and strategy at Charles Schwab & Co., says he thinks that a "nice disinflationary trend" that was emerging prior to the outbreak of war in Iran could return without a recession to break the economy. Martin says it will take more time before inflation diminishes to the Fed's target, but the strong economy should allow it to calm without a bigger market catastrophe. He also talks about the parts of the yield curve he finds most attractive, how investors should view junk bonds versus private credits and other riskier forms of fixed income, and the messages the bond market is sending with yields now standing at multi-year highs.

The Schwab IMPACT Conference is the largest annual gathering of independent registered investment advisers, and it has returned to Boston this year, attracting roughly 6,000 members of the financial community. Money Life is airing more than 20 interviews from the event over the course of five shows.

Today's other interviews include:

— Brent Leadbetter, head of RAFI Distribution at TMX VettaFi, who discusses changes in the indexing world, ranging from personalized indexing to how well benchmarks are functioning at a time when two companies represent more than one-third of the earnings growth for the entire Standard & Poor's 500. He also discusses how indexing may change in the future, and about the unusual times in the growth-versus-value debate.

— Chris Ainsworth, chief executive officer of Pave Finance, a firm that provides artificial-intelligence technology to advisory firms, who discusses whether the new technologies changing financial advisory relationships are actually improving them, and how the A.I. boom is changing the way many individual investors want to put their money to work.

— David Lau, chief executive officer at DPL Financial Partners, discusses why investors don't want to wait for rate hikes to lock down attractive rates on annuities, how the Secure 2.0 Act made annuities more accessible in retirement plans, but may not be the best way for workers to actually secure their future income streams and more.

— John Belton, portfolio manager for Gabelli -- where he runs, among other things, the Gabelli Growth Innovators ETF, Gabelli Growth fund -- talking about how to invest "in a monothematic world" where the one-note market keeps singing the praises of A.I. but investors need more to succeed. He talks about investing around A.I. and the opportunities the market is currently overlooking amid its obsession with new technologies.

Schwab IMPACT — the largest and longest-running annual gathering of independent registered investment advisers -- is back in Boston, and Chuck is one of the nearly 6,000 people in attendance, but the only one recording more than 20 interviews with experts, all airing in the next few days.

Headlining the first day of programming from IMPACT is Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co., who was part of the first keynote at the conference on Tuesday. She says that "uncertain" is a common and incorrect descriptor of the current maret, noting that it is more "unstable," where investors should be wary of multiple "fault lines" that could be setting the market up for a big shift. Asked if the current warning signs are smoke or a sign of fire, she says that, "arguably, there already is fire ... you just have to open the hood" and she makes the case for why the market troubles investors fear are already happening.

Also on the show from Schwab IMPACT:

— Charles Champagne, chief executive officer and head of ETFs at Allianz Investment Management, who discusses "buffer ETFs" and "defined-outcome" investing, and how investors are using new tools to hedge their bets on the stock and bond markets.

— Derrick Irwin, senior portfolio manager and co-head of the Intrinsic Emerging Markets Equity team at Allspring Global Investments, who discusses the global investment picture and why foreign markets represent a vastly superior value to domestic stocks, as well as why the war in Iran hasn't impacted global markets the ways experts expected when the fighting first started over six months ago.

— Trey Prescott, head of business development for Advisory Services Network

— Gabe Deiderich, portfolio manager at Baird, discussing the bond market and just how attractive current yields — now standing at multi-year highs — really are. He also discusses whether he thinks investors need new products like buffer ETFs as an alternative to traditional fixed-income funds and more.

Patrick O'Hare, chief market analyst at https://briefing.com, says he is concerned about the sustainability of earnings growth, and what it will mean for the market as profits, even if it's more a normalization of profits and not some implosion. particularly in artificial intelligence-powered sectors — normalize. O'Hare has concerns about sticky inflation and high interest rates, mixing into a strong cocktail of side effects for the market. He noted that while the 10-year Treasury has come down from its recent highs, the market hasn't benefited as might be expected "because there are concerns that are starting to percolate about the growth outlook."

Kendall Dilley, portfolio manager at Vineyard Global Advisors, says he is concerned by the market's narrow focus and lack of wide stock support to the upside, but he's still bullish through at least the end of the year, noting that markets historically see choppy consolidative price action heading into a midterm election, then rally afterwards. He noted that post-election day gains have averaged roughly 5.5 percent, with that increase happening in 85 percent of midterm election years. Dilley hopes that rally will broaden the market's upside participation; if it doesn't, that will be a red flag, alerting to potential trouble in the new year.

Chip Lupo of WalletHub discusses the site's 2026 Halloween Spending and Financial Fears Survey, which found that more than two-thirds of Americans think Halloween is too expensive, with slightly more people saying they're planning to cut their financial layouts this year compared to last year. Speaking more broadly about financial fears around the holiday, the survey found that 88 percent of people are "fearful" of this economy, with a large chunk of that group being most scared about sticky inflation.

David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs has been warning about off-balance sheet debt concerns — particularly among popular artificial-intelligence stocks — for months, but he returns to the subject today by putting "companies with the most hidden debt expenses" in the Danger Zone. While he says they are a lot of big names with messy balance sheets, he identifies four stocks by name, Meta Platforms, Oracle, Disney and Lockheed Martin as companies where adjusting earnings to reflect hidden expenses would dramatically drop profit numbers. Trainer noted that the majority of the S&P 500 companies do not have this kind of hidden-debt expense, but the ones that do indulge go for it heavily, to where profits could easily be 10 percent or more less than Wall Street thinks they are by sticking with ordinary accounting disclosures.

Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital discusses the good and bad for investors in having a few companies driving Wall Street to record highs while the majority of stocks are struggling, how it's possible to be building an A.I. bubble in the middle of a bull market, and how investors should deal with the duality of those conditions, and more.

Robert Farrington, founder of The College Investor, goes Off The News with Chuck, discussing a decision the Trump Administration made last week to end its legal fight that would have overhauled a popular student-loan forgiveness program. Judges had previously ruled in favor of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which under proposed rules changes could have become a weaponized tool for political retribution. Farrington notes that while the decision keeps the plan in place, it does not end the logjam on proposed student-loan rules changes, nor does it clear the way for a lot of graduates to get out from under their debts.

Adam Rozencwajg, managing partner at Goehring and Rozencwajg, says the spike in diesel prices — rather than crude-oil prices — was the unexpected symptom of trouble coming from the Iran War, and that an oil shock can start with diesel and move to crude, so "We're in a little bit of a calm before the storm picks up again." Rozencwajg says that even if the war were to end tomorrow and the Strait of Hormuz re-opened, crude oil prices would be due for a spike, if only as a temporary condition to try to relieve diesel shortages. The good news for energy investors, however, is that there is "a huge bull market ahead" for energy stocks; Rozencwajg says "We're in the early innings of it" and that it has a long way to run, which should give investors confidence that they can ride out the volatility that is likely to come as the oil headlines play out.

Steve Baffico, executive vice president and head of listed products at Bluerock — managers of the Bluerock Private Real Estate Fund — discusses the private real estate market and how it is changing, due to concerns over interest rates, the growth of A.I. infrastructure and struggles in the life-sciences and biotech real estate businesses and more. He discusses how the fund continues to perform through a recent transition, a process which has pushed the fund's discount to more than 40 percent, and the steps the firm is taking to narrow the discount and complete the process of reshaping the way it invests.

Plus, Chuck discusses Elon Musk's recent pledge of one share of SpaceX stock to every child in America, and how and why billionaires are offering up shares in support of public programs, and whether these kinds of promises are real and meaningful or just the latest public-relations tool for the super-rich.

Michael Green, chief investment officer at Tier1 Alpha Asset Management, says that the domination of index funds and passive investing has changed market kinetics, systematically pushing money to the largest names, contributing to the current phenomenon where a few mega-cap stocks have carried the market to record highs while most smaller index constituents have struggled. Over time, the continued shift toward passive investing has created a situation that can lead to extremes, in both directions. As a result, he says investors need to be prepared to navigate heightened market volatility, even as they ride market trends to record highs.

With gold having been on a rocky path this year — having peaked early and struggled since — Dana Samuelson, founder and president of American Gold Exchange, returns to Money Life to discuss how market and economic forces have shaken precious metals. Samuelson -- who said in an April interview that he expected gold to recover from the initial shock of the Iran War to return to hit a new record of $6,000 per ounce within 18 months -- says the rebound is still plausible but the timeline has changed. He discusses how inflation, interest rates and demand for the more-industrial white metals — silver, platinum and palladium — are impacting markets now, and what he believes needs to happen for precious metals to rebound.

Plus, Chuck answers a question from a listener about whether election integrity in the mid-terms could become a concern for the market, and perhaps have more influence on the economy moving forward than which party wins control of the House and Senate.

Danielle DiMartino Booth, chief executive and chief strategist at QI Research, says the stock market "is shooting off warning signals" indicative of a market top, and she fears that news around inflated artificial-intelligence earnings and "echoes of Enron" in expansive use of off-balance sheet financing to pay for expansion could be what leads to a recession or something worse. DiMartino Booth says that valuations are more stretched than they were during the Enron era, and she says that "earnings quality" is what investors should be questioning. "I think right now is the best time to have a very close relationship with your financial advisor," DiMartino Booth says, "and have them guiding you not just to indexes, but to specific areas that we know will benefit regardless of what's to come with the AI trade.

Mark Hamrick, chief economic analyst at The Hamrick Brief, goes Off the News on Tuesday's pending home sales numbers, which he says made it clear that "This is a pretty grim time for the housing market," but that the trouble goes beyond buyers and sellers because housing is a key economic sector that is already in the deep freeze before winter, a seasonally bad time, even arrives. He also discusses how the housing numbers are doubling up on the lock-in effect for many long-time and/or older homeowners who have a low-rate mortgage — so that trading houses means getting a new, more-expensive loan — and who now would be looking potentially at a diminished sale price on their property; if they're even less willing to move now, it slows the sector further.

Plus, Chuck has for over a decade offered the trick-or-treaters in his neighborhood a chance to pick cash or candy, and to trade candy with him in hopes of getting a bigger treat. He's got a wild new twist this year and he discusses what he is doing, how you can adapt it to your own circumstances and neighborhood — even one that gets few trick-or-treaters — and how even something as simple as a cash-or-candy choice can teach basic financial decision-making.

David Lundgren, chief market strategist at Little Harbor Advisors, says he thinks the market could rally in the short-term but that it is showing signs of material weakness and is headed for bubble trouble. Lundgren, portfolio manager for the LHA Market State Shares ETFs, says that the market is building a bubble now, but it's not sending him to the sidelines because investors can make big profits during the expansion period. However, he says that unless economic rules are somehow suspended, "We have a very large decline on our hands coming down the road." Lundgren says no one can know when the bull market will end or what the bubble's burst will look like, but he expects at least a 20 percent decline. Meanwhile, however, he emphasized that a tactical investor should be trying to maximize gains now while "not getting too far away from the exits."

In the Book Interview, Peter Lazaroff discusses "The Perfect Portfolio: A Proven Guide to Smart Investing for Long-Term Success," which is not about following one "right way" to have the ideal portfolio, but rather looks at how investors can find the right mix of investments — a mix that does not have to be extensive and complicated — to provide for the rest of their lives.

Plus, John Cabell, managing director of payments intelligence at J.D. Power, discusses the firm's 2026 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, which showed that the financial health among U.S. credit-card customers is getting worse. The study found that the average total credit card monthly spend across all cardholders in the study has gone up to $1,167, an increase of $109 from last year, although that may highlight an economic divide, as financially healthy customers spend up because they see increasing value from rewards and benefits while financially vulnerable consumers are feeling greater pressure from debt and rising fees.

Kristy Akullian, head of iShares Investment Strategy for the Americas at BlackRock — who says her job is to look at the economy and translate macro to markets and markets to investments — says that economic growth is strong, with numbers surprising to the upside in spite of firmer inflation, and while that has allowed the stock market to return to record highs, it should make investors nervous enough to want to diversify properly. "Higher rates that are the result of stronger growth are better for your portfolio overall," Akullian says, noting that it's why "we still have that optimism on the equity side of the portfolio" while adding that the higher yields are creating new opportunities in fixed income. Akullian says that she is "looking outside of traditional asset classes" to build in income and diversification in an era when "A.I. touches every part of your portfolio."

In "The Week That Is," Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, discusses the prospects for a Tesla-SpaceX merger — and whether it would be good for shareholders — after seeing Tesla unveil a rocket-powered roadster that got prediction markets buzzing on the prospect of a deal. Marolia also discusses how he is playing artificial intelligence amid sell-offs that have heightened market volatility and unnerved investors, and discusses the investment that he views as insurance against the volatile nature of the new technology. Plus, at a time when everyone is looking for ways to make their money go farther in the battle against inflation, Vijay says investors may be able to save themselves thousands by doing a simple re-evaluation on some of thir portfolio holdings.

David Trainer, founder and president at New Constructs, has been warning for a while now that some of the largest A.I. companies have so much hidden debt that they are less profitable than they seem. He thinks that trouble is coming to roost soon, in the form of lower earnings and more trouble for the Standard & Poor's 500, which is why he put the index in the Danger Zone this week. Trainer says the risk to earnings results puts valuations into question, and could be the trigger for a market correction or worse.

Ryan Dykmans, president and chief investment officer at Dunham & Associates Investment Counsel, is expecting a market downturn that comes "in large chunks," and while he is not sure of what will trigger it, he does think it won't be excessively far off. With that in mind, he discusses the importance of preparing for it today to avoid the potential to respond emotionally. Moreover, in "a much more meaningful and material drawdown," he says investors will "wish they had some dry powder." Dykmans also discusses what he expects on interest rates, the Federal Reserve and why he thinks a defensive, diversified portfolio posture makes sense even as the market continues running now.

Michael Kahn, senior market analyst at Lowry Research Corp., a CFRA company, says the market is already having a correction, with every index other than the major ones being down, and the big boys being held up by only a few large stocks. "This is a correction," Kahn says, "the question we have to answer is when it's going to end." If the market weakens from here, Kahn says it will be the largest stocks that don't hold up, but if things get better, smaller companies and broader participation will be what boosts returns. Kahn sees enough positives that he's not expecting a bear market, but instead is looking for indicators that the sliding has ended and the next leg higher is starting.

John Cole Scott, president of CEF Advisors, discusses third-quarter results in closed-end funds, noting that income held up at a time when prices were falling. Those price declines widened discounts in taxable bond funds to "the 99th percentile of cheapness," a level seen previously only during times of extreme market stress. Following those times previously, taxable bonds rebounded sharply, meaning the discount should be seen as a buying opportunity. Scott also discusses using hybrids like convertibles and preferreds, and which type of hybrid he prefers for current market conditions.

Lynette Zang, chief executive officer at Zang International, says that between inflation and other concerns, investors need to be more heavily invested into gold to protect their savings and the value of the time they put in to build their financial nestegg. Zang says there is enough uncertainty in the global economy and the international banking system to make real assets an appropriate store of value for hedging risks, thoguh she also cautions against investing in precious metals in any way other than holding the physical metal itself.

Author Jobert Abueva discusses "The Janus Plan: A No-Resolutions Path to Begin Your Year with Intention" Janus, the ancient Roman god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, and endings is always depicted with two opposite faces, one looking forward to the future and the other looking back at the past. Abueva says that kind of multi-directional approach is central to achieving goals and changing the course of your life for the better. While the new year creates a good time for that kind of planning, Abueva says it can be successful at any time of the year, provided there is follow-through on the plan.

Jennifer White, senior director, banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power discusses the firm's latest research showing that Americans' financial health may not be sustainable. The overall share of consumers who say monthly expenses feel less affordable than they did six months ago is steady at 43% but people who classify themselves as vulnerable and stressed are the most likely to say their usual monthly expenses are less affordable.

Michael Kelly, portfolio manager and global head of multi-asset at MetLife Investment Management, says the artificial-intelligence evolution has broad implications but has to this point been narrow in terms of how many companies it has impacted. That's a sign of how early into this cycle the economy is, and as the impact of A.I. starts to broaden, it will spill over into nearly everything else and will power the market higher through concerns and doubts. His advice is to buckle up and ride through the concerns and troughs, recognizing that shifts will occur but they will only slow progress, not stop it.

Deana Healy, vice president of financial planning and advice at Ameriprise Financial, discusses the latest results from the firm's "Flying Solo: Navigating Financial Autonomy" study, which found that while 89 percent of widowed Americans feel financially confident, 58 percent still wish they had someone to share financial decisions with. Well over 80 percent of respondents said they expect to remain financially solo, and that they would keep their finances separate even if they entered another relationship, but also said they have financial concerns about aging alone.

Plus, Chuck answers a listener's question about President Trump's proposal to give all Americans $5,000 if Republicans hold control of Congress in the midterm elections, but focuses his answer on how $5,000 is an achievable short- to mid-term savings goal for anyone who believes a check would be helpful but who doesn't think they wil be getting the money from the government.

Bryant VanCronkhite, senior portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, says that with the economy at full-employment levels, he expects the Federal Reserve to shift its focus back to inflation, but he says the central bank is boxed in when it comes to making moves. As a result, he thinks new Fed chair Kevin Warsh will rely on new data to re-define inflation measures and come away with a new target higher than the traditional 2% level, which won't make consumers feel better but will calm a market worried about what the Fed might do in trying to cut inflation. VanCronkhite says he sees the artificial-intelligence evolution affecting different market-cap zones wildly differently and discusses how he prefers to play A.I. across all sectors and more.

Yelena Maleyev, senior economist at KPMG Economics discusses the October 2026 Outlook Survey released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, which found that growth and inflation expectations are up, and that economists expect one more interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year, before rate moves are put on hold through 2027. Maleyev — who chairs the NABE Outlook Survey Committee — said that, on average, the economists see a tightening of monetary policy, but not a weak economy, they see the Fed as not reaching its inflation targets until at least 2028, but at least some of that is that the artificial intelligence build-out will spur both growth and inflation.

Beth Kobliner, author of the 1990s best-selling book "Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance For Your Twenties and Thirties," discusses her revised and updated book and how personal finance has changed over three decades, and whether technological advancements have helped or hurt the youngest wage-earners. She notes how "frictionless finance" tends to make money more mindless, and makes it easier for consumers to dig a hole from which it's a struggle to climb out. As a result, among the updates to her book was guidance on avoiding the effortless spend and being more mindful of where the money is going and how it gets there.

Marta Norton, chief investment strategist at Empower, expects a "grind it out" market for the rest of the year, setting up for "normalization" on earnings that keeps markets moving forward but at a slower pace in 2027. Norton says there is "less of a margin of safety" for valuation and for fundamentals, "which doesn't necessarily mean the market sells off, but it means maybe some of the momentum disappears." Norton also discusses rising fixed-income yields; she doesn't expect them to keep pushing higher, but just to stay near current levels for longer, raising costs of borrowing and making the growth environment more challenging. Norton also notes that anything that makes the artificial-intelligence evolution "look like more of a belly flop than a perfect 10 dive" would be "incredibly disruptive" to both the A.I. trade and the U.S. economy.

Vijay Marolia, chief investment officer at Regal Point Capital, looks ahead to the bull market's fourth birthday this week, and discusses the surprising chances that it will celebrate another anniversar next year; he also looks at current inflation numbers and how improvement in the inflation rate won't make consumers feel any better, and looks at why 2027 will be a pivotal year for the market, and explains why he will be focused more on revenue grwth than earnings strength in the year ahead.

David Trainer, founder and president of New Constructs, puts companies likely to miss third-quarter earnings in The Danger Zone, but singles out Coherent Corp. as a stock where the numbers appear to make a miss — and a subsequent reckoning on the market — look inevitable. Trainer makes it clear that while the headlines are focused on artificial intelligence, companies hiding earnings problems through accounting tricks come in all shapes and sizes, and from all industries, with the only real question being how long they can continue to use accounting rules to mask their true financial condition.

Brandon Thurber, chief market strategist at Regions Asset Management, says that despite a prevailing sense of nervousness, the market can remain on its upswing, and is likely to see a pickup after mid-term elections and lasting at least through the first quarter of 2027. With interest rates on the rise, Thurber says the market's potential for growth hinges largely on the power of earnings, but he notes that earnings estimates are surprisingly stable, which should set up a constructive tailwind for the market. In addition, while he acknowledges the market's concern over rising bond yields, he says the reason for those increases is crucial, because if strong economic growth is driving rates up, "that continues to be a fairly constructive backdrop for risk assets."

Legendary technical analyst Martin Pring of Pring Research, says the statistics suggest that "the economy down the road will look pretty nice," leading to "an expanded expansion" that can continue while rates are rising. Pring, who has published Intermarket Review since 1984, says that the economy is currently in "Stage Four of the cycle, when bonds are bearish, commodities are bullish and stocks are bullish." He expects the Fed's recent hikes to be the first of as many as six increases over the next year-plus, noting that creating a recession is how he expects central bankers to break inflation. Until that happens, however, he notes that "Trend trumps everything," and he will continue to be invested while the bull market remains intact.

Nathan Shetty, chief investment officer at SEI, says that alternative investments have been de-emphasized by the media and investors amid the raging success of traditional equities, but says that sticky inflation and unpredictable interest rates are creating opportunities for investors to use alternatives to complement equity strategies, mitigate risk and achieve true diversification. Shetty notes that as he watches current market trends, he is "not anti-A.I., but pro-productivity," looking past the A.I. eco-system to the businesses that benefit from the evolving technology.

Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group, says he sees the stock market rallying into the first quarter of 2027, noting that "earnings drive stocks and rates make noise." At that point, Leger expects the Standard & Poor's 500 to hit the 8,500 target he set on it during a Money Life interview last January, slightly behind schedule but still reflective of a strong, continuing uptrend. Leger encourages investors to ignore the market's noise, which includes concerns over valuations, because while valuations help investors set expectations for what can be achieved, they do not put limits on how high things can go and whether they can push further from here. He says the current valuations are "robbing Peter to pay Paul," but he says that won't become a problem for well over a decade, because the boom in earnings will roll on. Leger explains that a lot of the warning signs investors are seeing right now are part of the "typical business cycle dynamic," and he expects the market to broaden out for the next few quarters and years.

Paul Benda, executive vice president for risk, fraud and cybersecurity for the American Bankers Association, discusses how consumers can protect themselves against consumer scams and check fraud. The trade group currently has stepped up its "Banks Never Ask That" campaign to help consumers recognize when scammers — armed with a convincing amount of information — are setting the hook and getting individuals to take the bait and provide details or more that could lead directly to being ripped off.

Plus, Massy Williams, head of wealth management at Vanguard discusses the results from its latest "Women & Wealth" study, which digs into four key myths about how women handle money, showing that the stereotypical ideas that women lack financial confidence, delay decisions out of fear, wanting empathy above expertise and more are outdated and incorrect.

Jordan Rizzuto, managing partner at GammaRoad Capital Partners — which uses quantitative analysis of market risk through trends, economic expansion and consumer sentiment — says that the stock market's return to record highs on narrow breadth is "indicative of what you see with a market that has already sold off materially or a market that is loading up for fuel for another leg higher." Since the market has not sold off, Rizzuto believes the extreme consumer pessimism right now could power the market through the "wider band of uncertainty" it is facing to reach higher highs. He says that having trends and economic expansion factors staying positive while consumer sentiment is negative creates the kind of divergence that can set up moves in either direction that could surprise investors.

Maria Melchor, the founder of FirstGenLiving -- a site that provides financial education tailored to the experience of first-generation immigrants, students and professionals in the United States -- discusses her recent book, "Always Have Enough: How to Build Wealth When You Don't Come from Money," and how many people have to overcome cultural and familial issues beyond simply learning the right ways to handle money before they can become financially successful.

Plus, Stan Haithcock — best known as "Stan the Annuity Man" — returns to the show to answer listener questions. He helps one listener who is deciding if they should keep and take a pension, or if they should convert it to a lump-sum distribution, and the timing of when to start taking the pension and Social Security, and another whose employer, as a result of recent law/rule changes, is adding annuities to its retirement-savings plans.