Joseph Shaposhnik, founder/chief executive officer of Rainwater Equity — manager of the Rainwater ETF, which focuses on buying into recurring revenue models at reasonable prices — says that the software industry "is embroiled into a controversy that is very difficult to dispute until we have [multiple] quarters of these businesses putting up very, very strong results." But because he expects those results from software firms, he thinks the market has beaten up software stocks as if they are all going to fail, making them bargain priced now with a potential rebound in sight. Shaposhnik talks about how recurring-revenue stories lead to more predictable results, which should give investors some comfort against uncertain times.

With the average price on a new car now hovering near $50,000 at a time when Americans are being squeezed by higher prices at the gas pump, Robert Steenburgh, chief executive officer at AutoPayPlus talks about how consumers should be dealing with the challenges of financing a car, particularly at a time when the average monthly payment is now $735 — and more than $1,000 for 20 percent of new-car buyers — with teh average loan term now stretched to 84 months.

Another way that consumers are finding their finances stretched is in home buying, and Ted Shanahan, chairman of Blueprint Financial Group, discusses the latest data from Northwestern Mutual's 2026 Planning & Progress study, which showed that parents now play a bigger role in helping children buy homes, and say that providing that assistance is as or more important than paying for college.

Plus, Chuck answers a listener's question about closed-end fund discounts, how they put stocks on sale and why discounts are appealing even when their benefits aren't readily evident when researching a fund or holding it in a portfolio.