Ritholtz: Think 'probabilities,' instead of 'This is what happens next'
Release Date: 02/05/2026
Franklin Templeton's Dover sees Mag 7 and Ai stocks 'in a rough spot'
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
, chief investment officer at , says that while the economy generally looks positive, he sees it in a "rough spot, especially with those Mag 7 or A.I.-related stocks," which he said have gotten "way ahead of themselves." Dover, who also serves as head of the Franklin Templeton Investment Institute, says he doesn't see an old-fashioned recession happening, but thinks there may be rolling recessions impacting specific industries and sectors. That could lead to a situation "where the average looks great but for a whole lot of people it isn't good," the K-shaped downturn that impacts...
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Ritholtz: Think 'probabilities,' instead of 'This is what happens next'
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
, chairman and chief investment officer at , says that while the stock market has blown past multiple red flags and warning signs, investors should not be acting as if indicators like an inverted yield curve, events like war or tariffs, or a simple market winning streak are leading to some sort of fast market shift. Rather than getting caught up in the next news story, Ritholtz says to focus on diversification and common-sense long-term investing strategies, and he notes that for all of the reasons investors are nervous, he would focus on earnings, noting that if he had only one variable to...
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WisdomTree's Weniger on the potential for 'upside economic surprise'
Money Life with Chuck Jaffe
, head of equity strategy at , worries that there may be "an upside CPI surprise" coming in the second half of the year, but he also says there is "the risk of upside economic surprises" now, evidenced in the market action, where he sees basic materials, energy and "things that come out of the ground" like commodities and oil leading the way. Those are assets that normally lead late in the economic cycle, and he expects them to stay strong through 2026. Weniger also discusses why President Trump's recent nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chairman has Wall Street...
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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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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_outlineBarry Ritholtz, chairman and chief investment officer at Ritholtz Wealth Management, says that while the stock market has blown past multiple red flags and warning signs, investors should not be acting as if indicators like an inverted yield curve, events like war or tariffs, or a simple market winning streak are leading to some sort of fast market shift. Rather than getting caught up in the next news story, Ritholtz says to focus on diversification and common-sense long-term investing strategies, and he notes that for all of the reasons investors are nervous, he would focus on earnings, noting that if he had only one variable to look at to forecast the market's potential, it would be earnings. So long as that trend continues — and he expects it to — the market should keep gaining ground.
Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, looks to emerging markets with his ETF of the Week, picking a classic, low-cost, long-term fund that he says can be a core holding for investors looking to increase foreign exposure.
Plus, Chuck discusses comments by Elon Musk suggesting that Americans really don't need to save for retirement any more. As ridiculous as that might sound, the principal Musk is relying on is called "universal high income," and it suggests that retirement savings won't be necessary because the abundance created by productivity gains created by artificial intelligence will make it so that all future material needs are easily met. While that outcome is possible, Chuck explains why you might still want to fund your Roth IRA for a while.