JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s decision to sell 12% of his stake in the nation’s No. 1 bank could be a signal of market turmoil ahead, The Daily Mail reports.
The disclosure of Dimon’s decision to unload 1 million of his total 8.6 million shares worth $1.2 billion in 2024 was made in a regulatory filing Friday.
The sale — Dimon’s first in his nearly 18-year tenure with the bank and which will fetch him approximately $144 million — was for “tax planning purposes,” according to the filing.
Chase’s entire market capitalization is worth $408 billion.
The news comes just two weeks after Dimon kicked off third-quarter earnings with this grim warning to investors: “Now may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades.”
The wars in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza “may have far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade and geopolitical relationships,” Dimon said, adding that bank executives throughout the U.S. are “climbing the wall of worry.”
Dimon also sounded alarm bells on high levels of government debt, inflation, and a tight labor market that is causing a wage-price spiral.
This week, at the economic conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dimon lambasted the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks for getting their financial forecasting “100% dead wrong.”
The outspoken CEO — who often weighs in on global and economic issues and who Washington leaders turn to for advice — said the U.S. Federal Reserve and other banks should remain humble about their proficiency to handle the economic fallout from inflation and slowing global growth.
Economists tell Newsmax they concur with Dimon that investors should be concerned about the national debt and a lack of leadership in the White House.
Additionally, points out Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, “The bond market has been sending red-flag signals that it believes a recession is looming. For more than a year now, we’ve seen an inverted yield curve, which is when the yield on the two-year Treasury has overtaken that of the 10-year note.”
Currently, the stock market could see further pressure if one key index fails to remain at a critical technical level, according to Bank of America investment strategist Michael Hartnett, CNBC reports.
Hartnett wrote in a client note Thursday that selling pressure has persisted in the S&P 500 Equal-Weighted index, which is not as sensitive to technology stocks as other benchmarks. If that can’t hold onto the 5,540 level — it was trading at 5,414 late Thursday afternoon — it could be a sign of further stress on the S&P 500.
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