BCA's Gertken: Political instability will cost American investors

Matt Gertken, chief strategist, global and U.S. political strategy at BCA Research, says that higher levels of leadership uncertainty lead to lower stock prices, and that the peak polarization in U.S. politics has taken the government's eyes off the ball when it comes to the actions of Russia and China, which could lead to policy mistakes and real costs on Americans in the global marketplace. Gertkin explains that the political gridlock is not all bad news for investors, noting that it restricts how far either side can go in blowing out the budget, but says that a recession is likely to lead to one party being swept into control. Jerremy Newsome of Real-Life Trading says the market's recent pullback "is a healthy rotation on the general broader uptrend of the markets," meaning that declines are buying opportunities because the market has room to run higher and is showing signs that it will, although much of that continuing rally may still be in mega-cap names. In The NAVigator segment, Robert Bush, director of closed-end products at Calamos Investments, says that discounts have widened to nearly 10 percent this year, and while closed-end funds haven't participated much in 2023's gains, they have become attractively priced, even though they are being challenged by many other investments when it comes to delivering good yields to investors. In the Market Call, Jeffrey DeMaso, editor, The Independent Vanguard Adviser, talks about "buying the manager, not the fund" to build a portfolio.