Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTA

The message coming from the Fed is that it's on hold for rate cuts. He'll get a lot of questions as to whether he's worried about inflation, which will elevate the discussion around inflation to the 6 o'clock news. Last week the Michigan Consumer Sentiment numbers came out, and inflation expectations took a massive jump up. That sentiment is a big part of keeping long-term inflation anchored.

If inflation expectations don't change, a lot of people are worried about President Trump's policies around tariffs. That's going to start to really enter the narrative.

Right now, the market sees the threat of tariffs as a Trump negotiating tool. Every time there's a new headline about inflation, markets go down, but then quickly get bought up. The market's in a buy-the-dip mindset at the moment. But for the last couple of months, we haven't really seen any higher highs.

We're on the cusp of that again this week. Can the market expand to the upside here? Or are we going to trade back down to the bottom end of the multi-month trading range we've been in since the US election?

Not great, but OK and a bit better than expected. Over the next week or two, we're going to see more consumer-oriented names like MCD report. Really important what they'll have to say about whether consumers are in good enough shape to further expand the market multiple. He argues that it's going to be a tougher task at this point than a lot of the bulls think.

The bottom end of the income spectrum is really hurting in a big way in many sectors. Now, MCD is a go-out-to-eat trade down; it's less expensive than a Denny's or an Olive Garden, for example. So if MCD, which is already at the lower end of a meal out, is telling us that the lower income folks are struggling, then you really have to sit up and take notice. But the market's pretty much ignoring it for now.

The more in money market you are, the safer it is because the time to maturity of holding assets is lower. So the shorter the duration, the safer. The more government, the safer, but also a lower yield.

For an enhanced money market yield, he really likes ZST.

The more in money market you are, the safer it is because the time to maturity of holding assets is lower. So the shorter the duration, the safer. The more government, the safer, but also a lower yield.

For an enhanced money market yield, he really likes ZST.

An enhanced money market yield for short-term exposure. It's money market, but corporate bonds, so a slightly higher yield. Not a HISA, but similar to one.

Laddered corporate bonds. Gives you a bit more interest rate risk, but not necessarily much more incremental yield.

The rule of thumb is that if you're really bullish on the equity outlook, you don't want a covered call strategy. You're not going to do as well as a long-holding dividend strategy. If you don't like the market and you're concerned about it, a covered call strategy will give you a little bit more income.

The second aspect of this rule of thumb is that, internationally, covered call income is going to give you better tax treatment. So in a taxable account, some of those strategies might give you a better after-tax yield.

You typically won't see that. On a short-term bond, there's not enough volatility for the premiums to add significant value. Long-term bonds have a lot more volatility, and preferreds might have some. There might be such ETFs out there, but he doesn't know any off the top of his head.

There's much more volatility in equities, so the option overlays add more value. The longer your interest-rate profile, the more volatility, so you could get some extra tax-efficient income off that.

Overall, banks should be correcting a little more than they are now. He sees some growth risks in Canada specifically. A bank like this, that's mostly exposed to the Canadian consumer and market, will have a bit of a correction if our economy is weaker.

Likes the name, but he'd wait for more of a drop before putting in new $$, perhaps another $10 lower.

Just cut and paste the chart from A to B, expecting more of the same. Liked it below $60; he trims between $70-75. Thinks oil and gas prices will generally be range-bound for the next year or two, and so will this kind of stock. Well run. Buy dips, don't chase strength.

He'd argue against prices skyrocketing. President Trump's "drill, baby, drill" policies will keep supplies in NA pretty ample in the next couple of years, offset by periods of economic weakness. Buy dips. Unless a name has an idiosyncratic tailwind going for it, don't chase strength looking for longer-term breakout.

Liked it below $65, but recently sold up in the mid-$70s. Looking to add back in, but it has to be sub-$70. Risk/reward here is merely neutral, so it's a hold.

Likes that strategy a lot, makes a lot of sense. It would keep the tech exposure, but de-emphasize the weight of the market cap.

In the US, there are some ETFs in the Innovator line. Gives you upside exposure, but contains buffers that protect on the downside for you.

Likes that strategy a lot, makes a lot of sense. It would keep the tech exposure, but de-emphasize the weight of the market cap.

In the US, there are some ETFs in the Innovator line. Gives you upside exposure, but contains buffers that protect on the downside for you.