Head of Specialized Strategies at J.P. Morgan Private Bank spoke in a CNBC interview.
In brief:
- positive outlook for earnings ... could cause new highs by the middle of 2024
- “We think we bottomed out last quarter, we began to re-accelerate, and the fundamental story is a good one, which is supportive of stocks.”
- higher-for-longer rate environment means rates have reached an intermediate top, which is of benefit to equities
- Fed speak is what’s going to ultimately drive the direction of rates
- believes there will be a soft landing
- new highs in the market next year will be largely driven by earning growth, not by valuations
What to watch:
- “Higher crude oil prices hurt earnings, and at the end of the day, that’s what the market is going to respond to, but it’s also going to hurt the consumer”
On the attacks in Israel for the market:
- “History gives us a pretty clear roadmap on geopolitics and the impact on markets.”
- Markets quickly tend to pivot back towards fundamentals
- Depending on the stability of the oil markets, the shift would be back to the Fed, and this season’s earnings coming up
