Larry Fink at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said President Donald Trump’s efforts to unleash capital in the private sector could have unintended consequences that would hurt the stock market.
“I’m cautiously optimistic. That being said, I have scenarios where it could be pretty bad,” Fink said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I believe if it’ll unlock all this private capital, we’re going to have enormous growth. At the same time, some of this is going to create new inflationary pressures. I do believe that’s probably the risk that is not factored into the markets. I think the bond market is going to tell us where we’re going.”
The 72-year-old chief of the world’s largest asset manager said much will depend on how quickly the private sector can put capital to work. Trump has already touted massive private-sector promises to spend in the U.S., the latest example being the Stargate joint venture, where SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle would invest $100 billion immediately for artificial intelligence infrastructure in the country. Plans call for the project to eventually invest a total of $500 billion.
“There are some very large inflationary pressures that we all have to be aware of,” Fink said. “And depending on how this plays out, there is a scenario where we’re going to have much more elevated interest rates because of inflation. And that’s going to have a very negative impact on the equity market.”
Fink said there is a possibility that the 10-year Treasury yield could retest the 5% level and even reach 5.5% if inflation re-accelerates in a meaningful way. If that happens, Fink said it would “shock” the equity market.
The benchmark 10-year note yield last traded at 4.62%.
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused the CEOs of the two largest American banks of refusing to serve conservatives, reviving a 2024 campaign talking point that the two companies deny.
Speaking via video to an assembly held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump lashed out at Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as part of a question-and-answer session.
“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America,” Trump said.
“You and Jamie and everybody, I hope you’re going to open your banks to conservatives, because what you’re doing is wrong,” Trump said.
Moynihan, who was among a few executives selected to ask the president questions during the Q&A, didn’t immediately respond to the accusation.
Both banks deny refusing service to conservatives.
“We serve more than 70 million clients, we welcome conservatives and have no political litmus test,” a Bank of America official said in an email.
“We have never and would never close an account for political reasons, full stop,” a JPMorgan spokeswoman said in a statement. “We follow the law and guidance from our regulators and have long said there are problems with the current framework Washington must address.”
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, caused in part by shoddy lending standards at major banks, U.S. regulators increased pressure on lenders to purge clients in industries considered higher risk for money laundering or fraud. That meant that payday lenders, pawn ships, firearms dealers, and those involved in pornography had their accounts revoked, often with little notice or explanation as to why.
As recently as October, Trump singled out Bank of America, repeating claims that it discriminates against conservatives.
The accusations may have roots in allegations from state attorneys general last year. In April, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to Moynihan, accusing the bank of canceling the accounts of “multiple religious groups with mainstream views in the last three years.”
In a May letter in response to Kobach, Bank of America said accounts are de-banked for reasons including a change of stated purpose of the account, the expected level or type of activity on the account, or failure to verify certain documentation required by law.
One account highlighted by Kobach was de-banked because it engaged in debt collection services, which was inconsistent with the Bank of America division that was servicing the account, according to the bank’s response.
“We would like to provide clarity around a very straightforward matter: Religious beliefs or political view-based beliefs are never a factor in any decisions related to our client’s accounts,” the bank said in that letter. “Bank of America provides banking services to non-profit organizations affiliated with faith-based communities throughout the United States. We have banking and investing relationships with approximately 120,000 faith-based clients in the United States.”
Influential people in Trump’s orbit have continued to claim that banks are discriminating based on religion or politics.
In November, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm that bears his name, told podcaster Joe Rogan that dozens of startup founders had been de-banked in recent years. Andreesen has said he advises Trump on technology matters.
Bank of America shares were up more than 1% on Thursday, with JPMorgan shares higher as well.
The banking industry is seen as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the election of Trump, in large part because of expectations he would kill Biden-era regulatory efforts to force banks to hold tens of billions of dollars in additional capital against losses, make annual stress tests less opaque and drop efforts to cap credit card and overdraft limitations.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Alcoa — Alcoa’s shares fell about 4% after Chief Executive Officer William Oplinger said on Wednesday that U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports would increase the cost of aluminum by $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year, and that increasing the cost of trade with Canada and Mexico would hurt the domestic supply chain and automotive market. Alcoa is the largest U.S. aluminum producer. American Airlines — Shares dropped 8% after the airline offered a disappointing first-quarter outlook . The company said it expects an adjusted loss of 20 cents to 40 cents per share. Analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated a loss of 4 cents per share. Elevance Health — Shares of the health insurance company rose 1.3% after Elevance beat fourth-quarter expectations. The company posted adjusted earnings of $3.84 a share on revenue of $45 billion, just beating the FactSet consensus call of $3.81 a share on revenue of $44.92 billion. Electronic Arts — Shares tumbled 17% after the video game publisher cut its net bookings guidance for both the third quarter and full year. Electronic Arts cited underperforming games, like its soccer franchise, for the shortfall. Plexus — Shares of the aftermarket electronics product stock slipped 9% after the company gave a disappointing revenue outlook for the second quarter. Plexus expects revenue in the range of $960 million to $1 billion, lower than the $1.02 billion analysts called for, per FactSet. AST SpaceMobile — Shares declined more than 14% after the satellite company announced a $400 million convertible note offering . GE Aerospace — The stock popped nearly 7% after GE Aerospace posted a fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat. The defense and aerospace company reported adjusted earnings of $1.32 per share, higher than the $1.04 analysts polled by LSEG had expected. GE Aerospace’s $9.88 billion revenue also surpassed the $9.51 billion forecast. Guidewire Software — Shares jumped 9.9% after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a buy rating on the company. Guidewire Software, which provides cloud software platforms for property and casualty-focused insurance companies, stands to outperform as cloud adoption grows among insurers, according to Goldman. Union Pacific — Shares of the railway company jumped nearly 5% after Union Pacific posted fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s estimates. Earnings came in at $2.91 per share, compared to analysts’ forecast for $2.78 per share, per LSEG. Revenue fell short of expectations, coming in at $6.12 billion in revenue. Analysts called for $6.14 billion. Alaska Air —The airline stock rose more than 4%. In the fourth quarter, Alaska Air posted adjusted earnings of 97 cents per share, topping the 47 cents projected by analysts, per FactSet. — CNBC’s Hakyung Kim, Jesse Pound, Samantha Subin, Lisa Han and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. American Airlines — Shares sank 8% after the airline forecast an adjusted loss of 20 cents to 40 cents per share for the first quarter. That’s wider than the 2 cent loss expected by analysts LSEG polled. However, American reported an earnings and revenue beat for the fourth quarter. GE Aerospace — Shares gained more than 9% after fourth-quarter results surpassed analyst estimates on the top and bottom line. GE Aerospace reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.32 on revenue of $9.88 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG forecast earnings of $1.04 per share and $9.51 billion in revenue. Alaska Air Group — The airline stock advanced about 2% on the heels of better-than-expected quarterly results. Alaska Air also expects a smaller-than-expected loss per share of 70 cents to 50 cents in the current quarter, while analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a loss of 75 cents. Electronic Arts — Stock in the video game publisher pulled back 17% after the firm trimmed its third-quarter and full-year guidance for net bookings, citing a slowdown in its football gaming franchise as a key catalyst. AST SpaceMobile — Shares declined 17% after the satellite company announced a $400 million convertible note offering . Guidewire Software — The software stock traded rose nearly 5% before the opening bell after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a buy rating. Analyst Adam Hotchkiss labeled the company a leader in the cloud modernization for the property and causality insurance sector. Plexus — The aftermarket electronics product stock fell 9% after issuing a disappointing revenue outlook for the second quarter. Plexus expects revenue in the range of $960 million to $1 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet were looking for $1.60 billion. — CNBC’s Michelle Fox contributed reporting.