About this episode

Zach Jonson discusses the impending bear market and its implications for investors, while Axel Merk shares insights on his recent removal from a gold fund management position.

Zach Jonson, chief investment officer at Stack Financial Management , says the stock market is building towards "one of the biggest or largest bear markets of our generation," but he says that decline will impact passive, broad-index investors the most. "We see a true long-term, 12- to 18-month, 45 to 50 downturn, and that's in the S&P if you look at the Nasdaq, you could really see some losses that are in excess of 70 percent," Jonson said. He's worried about a "bear market waterfall" — where every decline is not met with a quick return back to new highs — that makes it emotionally difficult for investors to buy into dips, but he does say that being patient and strategic should allow investors to find pockets of opportunity amid the decline, positioning them to profit when the pendulum swings back to the upside. Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer at Merk Investments , discusses Saba Capital's activist campaign that recently saw him booted as portfolio manager for ASA Gold and Precious Metals Ltd. , a closed-end fund that was up nearly 200% last year and that was at the top of its peer group since Merk took it over in 2016. Still, the activist shareholders…

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