Strategist Delwiche says to ride trends in foreign stocks and commodities in '26
Release Date: 12/30/2025
Why Manulife John Hancock's Roland is whispering 'This time is different'
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Emily Roland, co-chief investment officer at , says that she may be forced to believe her eyes and is whispering to investors "This time is different," which are famously described as the most dangerous words in investing. With leading economic indicators negative for 38 months, the long time when the yield curve was inverted, three months of negative job growth and more; all of those are supposed indicators of trouble and recession, but the difference has been that the market has overcome those concerns. Roland is encouraging investors to resist the urge to trade on political headlines,...
info_outline
ProShares Haghbin: Market's strong enough that a hawkish new Fed chair won't hurt it
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Mo Haghbin, managing director for strategic ETFs at says it's not unusual to have a strong equity market when there's accommodative central bank policy, and he's expecting that to continue even with the Fed under direction of new chairman nominee Kevin Warsh. Haghbin says "It's a little bit of a Goldilocks situation right now," with the next year being an environment that seems "just right," and therefore is not particularly vulnerable to a bear market or recession. In "The Week That Is," , chief investment officer at , discusses spiking volatility that saw precious metals reach new highs...
info_outline
Sage's Williams: Economy is good, but expect 'a year of less'
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Rob Williams, chief investment strategist at , says that 2025 was a great year for the market, but that has the market priced to where investors should expect to capture earnings growth and interest income. "If earnings come in 10 to 15 percent and you get that but nothing else, that's still pretty good," Williams says. "If you get 4.5 to 5 percent on bonds — without much help from the Fed — that's not so bad either." It's about preparing for "less," rather than preparing for some sort of market nightmare, Williams says. In The NAVigator segment, Nick Robinson, deputy head of global...
info_outline
Leuthold's Wang: 'The biggest risk to the economy is the stock market itself'
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Chun Wang, senior analyst and portfolio manager at the , says that the economy should perform well in 2026, with the mid-term election feeling more like a presidential election because fiscal and monetary policy should be aligned to prove something to voters, rather than the typical mid-term doldrums. Still, Wang believes that the wealth effect that has kept the economy out of a recession would be threatened by a market downturn, which means that a bear market would likely cause a recession. Wang says the near-term biggest macro risk is outside the U.S., most notably rising bond yields in...
info_outline
Horizon's Ladner on being 'uncomfortably comfortable' with the good times ahead
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at , says the market entered the year "with some pretty nice tailwinds all hitting at the same time," which has the economy set up for growth that he thinks will push the stock market to its fourth straight year of double-digit gains. Ladner recognizes that the market is enjoying current conditions, but he doesn't see major risks as being high-probability events this year, and instead finds his discomfort and nervousness in riding along with the consensus that conditions are so good. In the Book Interview, discusses ", which looks at the evolution of the...
info_outline
Invesco's Levitt: No recession in the outlook because the business cycle remains strong
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Brian Levitt, global market strategist at , says he is watching but not worried about geopolitics, the interest rate environment and more because the current business cycle is strong enough to continue through the year. Levitt entered the year with a mindset of rebalancing and diversifying to take advantage of areas like international investments and small-caps that have been underweighted in portfolios, and he says foreign stocks should benefit all year from weaker dollar conditions. Dollar strength is one of — corporate bond spreads, transportation stocks and inflation expectations...
info_outline
WCG's Leger: With tailwinds to overpower worries, the S&P will hit 8,500 in '26
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Talley Leger, chief market strategist at , says the market is facing seven different headwinds, but that it has 10 tailwinds, all blowing to overcome potential troubles to where he expects the Standard & Poor's 500 to reach 8,500 this year. That would make 2026 the fourth consecutive year with double-digit market gains, but Leger is confident in his pick, noting that easing financial conditions — including a few more rate cuts from the Federal Reserve — should support economic re-acceleration to let the rally roll on. Leger is not the only one who is optimistic, as the latest...
info_outline
Ted Benna, 'father of the 401k,' likes rules proposals to help homeowners
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
, the father of the 401(k) -- who first recognized the potential in Section 401(k) of the tax code to boost retirement savings and who developed the first plan -- ax code, he recognized its potential and developed the first plan -- says that the Trump Administration's proposed plan to allow 401(k) savers to put some of their monies toward home down payments is a positive change that is overdue. He is not worried that the change will somehow endanger savers or widen the retirement crisis and notes that the change would make rules consistent across various types of tax-advantaged retirement...
info_outline
Morningstar's Pappalardo leans into small-caps and foreign stocks for '26
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Dominic Pappalardo, chief multi-asset strategist at , discusses , noting that the market has rewarded the sellers of artificial intelligence technologies, but at some point the buyers of AI technology will "need to show material gains from those investments" to justify the spending and maintain AI profits. As a result, he is cautious on artificial intelligence and technology stocks, but he is positive on the market and says he expects to see strong opportunities in small-cap stocks and international plays, particularly in emerging markets. discusses his new book, “Your Perfect Portfolio:...
info_outline
Ballentine's Chiappinelli: Market's expensive but not 'crazy enough' for a bubble
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
Peter Chiappinelli, chief investment officer at says "When everyone is talking about a bubble, I sleep much, much better at night, because it means we're probably not in one." He makes the case that valuations are high — which could hold down potential earnings moving forward — but that they still justify the market action we have seen. He's cautiously optimistic that gains can continue, with his worry being the geopolitics, but he says the market has overcome plenty of exogenous shocks in recent years, and that recession risk is "almost nil" so that investors should expect volatility in...
info_outlineWillie Delwiche, investment strategist at Hi Mount Research, says that investors may be expecting too much from the domestic stock market, which makes it more likely to disappoint them even if it delivers modest gains. He's more excited about the prospects of international stocks and the commodities market, where he says the values — relative to the domestic market — remain attractive and there is more room to run.
With year-end upon us, Chuck talks about some personal finance realizations he has made this year that have him adjusting his thinking for the future, to better balance money and happiness. He's discussing research which shows that how someone receives their income may be a bigger determinant in their happiness than how much money they have, and how financial security is not just about the number at the bottom of a net worth statement.
Plus, Stephen Akin, founder of Akin Investments brings his stock-picking mix of technical momentum indicators and fundamental analysis back to the Market Call.