Billionaire bond king Jeff Gundlach says the stock market will likely fall from its 'lofty' perch despite 'Superman' Jerome Powell's policies
- The billionaire "bond king" Jeffrey Gundlach said on Tuesday that he expected the stock market to fall from its "lofty" perch and warned of corporate credit downgrades and a rise in white-collar layoffs.
- Gundlach said that traders think Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is "Superman" and will keep the fed fund rates at zero for the next two years.
- His comments came ahead of a much-anticipated Fed policy announcement on Wednesday that's expected to determine future guidance, justify Main Street lending facilities, and touch on the US protests.
- "I certainly do expect that Jay Powell would follow through on controlling the yield curve should the 30-year rate really get unhinged," Gundlach said.
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The stock market is likely to fall from its "lofty" perch alongside waves of corporate credit downgrades and white-collar unemployment, Jeffrey Gundlach, the founder and CEO of DoubleLine Capital, said in a webcast on Tuesday.
Describing the market as overinflated, he said he thought the market falling is a "pretty good bet."
"If you think that the stock market is going to fall from its fairly lofty perch right now — which I think is a pretty good bet," he said, adding that such investors should bet on increased dollar strength.
Gundlach, the billionaire "bond king" of Wall Street, said that as employers examine the value of white-collar workers, a "wave of more higher-end unemployment" would hit those who make above $100,000 a year.
Over 11 weeks, t0tal US jobless claims have hit a record 43 million, suggesting that more than one in four working Americans lost a job during the coronavirus pandemic.
"A lot of times it's not the earthquake, it's the fire," Gundlach said on the webcast.
Gundlach said that the work-from-home guidance enforced by the virus had exposed the people in his business who shy away from hard work.
"What people may have learned for white-collar services jobs in particular during the work-from-home lockdown situation ... I kind of learned who was really doing the work and who wasn't really doing as much work as it looked like on paper that they might have been," he said.
Moving onto the US Treasury market, Gundlach said he expected the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, to implement yield-curve control if 30-year Treasury rates continue to rise.
"Obviously yield-curve control is lurking in the background of the conversation," Gundlach said. "I certainly do expect that Jay Powell would follow through on controlling the yield curve should the 30-year rate really get unhinged."
Gundlach also said that traders think that Powell is "Superman" and that the chairman would keep the fed funds rate at zero for the next two years.
His comments came amid the Fed's June policy meeting, set to culminate with the central bank announcing its latest policy decisions later Wednesday. Investors will be watching for guidance on the Fed's directions, and there is a chance the central bank could target yield-curve control.
The billionaire described Fed measures such as quantitative easing and zero rates as ineffective, adding that negative rates are the biggest kryptonite for the banking system.
Gundlach said he was bullish on gold and expected the commodity to reach new highs, adding that he would stick to his weak-dollar outlook as he anticipates the US's money might devalue against most other currencies.