Finance

DoubleLine’s Gundlach says the Fed looks like Mr. Magoo, focuses too much on ‘short-termism’

Published

3 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Business Finance News

Jeffrey Gundlach speaking at the 2019 SOHN Conference in New York on May 5, 2019.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach believes the Federal Reserve is missing the bigger picture again.

“The Fed looks like Mr. Magoo, driving around, bumping into things. Then became systematic, got inflation to come down,” Gundlach said in an investor webcast Tuesday evening. “But for the past five months we’ve had another rising trend. This has got the Fed back into short-termism, reacting too much to short-term data, not being strategic.”

Gundlach, a noted fixed-income investor whose firm manages $95 billion, made the comments before the latest reading of the consumer price index on Wednesday. The CPI increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% on the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.9%

Excluding food and energy, the core CPI rate came in slightly lighter than expected both on a monthly basis and an annual basis. While the numbers compared favorably to forecasts, they still show that the Fed has work to do to reach its 2% inflation target.

“CPI month-over-month change has got the Fed zig-zagging,” Gundlach said. “The market has gone from an aggressive assumption of Fed cuts to just one cut in 2025.”

The Fed has cut benchmark rates by a full percentage point since September, a month during which it took the unusual step of lowering by a half point. In December, the central bank projected only two quarter-point rate cuts in 2025, fewer than the four cuts it previously forecast.

“The Fed is now in sync with the market, and the market is not given further signals for a change,” Gundlach said. “That is consistent with the Fed slowing down its change of monetary policy.”

Futures pricing continued to imply a near certainty that the Fed would stay on hold at its Jan. 28-29 meeting but leaned more toward two quarter-point rate cuts through the year, assuming quarter percentage point increments, according to CME Group.

Finance

Citibank customers report fraud alerts and account access issues

Published

5 minutes ago

January 15, 2025

Business Finance News

A Citibank branch in New York, US, on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Numerous Citibank customers reported receiving fraud alerts and difficulties accessing their accounts Wednesday.

According to DownDetector.com, which tracks reports of digital services interruptions, hundreds of Citibank users had flagged issues related to their accounts as of midday.

The site indicated the interruptions had been occurring since at least 9 a.m. Eastern time.

On social media platform X, some customers reported receiving fraud alerts and subsequently experiencing long hold times with bank’s fraud department. Others said they couldn’t access their mobile accounts.

A Citi spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a bank representative posted on X in response to a customer: “No updates at this time. As soon as this issue is resolved we will connect with you. There is no need to keep checking in unless you want to.”

Another agent wrote on the platform, “We are currently working on this and ask that you try calling in another 1-2 hours.”

Earlier Wednesday, Citi reported financial earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, with multiple business segments seeing record revenues.

Finance

There’s a ‘meaningful shift’ in CEO confidence since Trump’s election, says Goldman’s Solomon

Published

56 minutes ago

January 15, 2025

Business Finance News

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks during the Reuters NEXT conference, in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2024.

Mike Segar | Reuters

The election of Donald Trump in November and a swing back to Republican power in Washington is already starting to make an impact in the business world, according to Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.

The bank executive said on a conference call Wednesday that other CEOs are feeling better about the direction of the economy and their businesses since the presidential election, even though Trump has yet to take office.

“There has been a meaningful shift in CEO confidence, particularly following the results of the U.S. election,” Solomon said, according to a transcript from FactSet.

“Additionally, there is a significant backlog from sponsors and an overall increased appetite for dealmaking supported by an improving regulatory backdrop,” he continued.

The comments line up with some survey data that suggests renewed confidence among business leaders. The latest Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions showed an improved outlook for the next 12 months. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose to its highest level since October 2018 in December.

To be sure, executives on JPMorgan Chase‘s earnings call said that the optimism among business leaders has not yet resulted in loan growth, according to a FactSet transcript.

Stocks rose sharply in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s win, as investors cheered the prospect of lower taxes and fewer regulations. However, many of those gains have since disappeared, in part due to a recent rise in interest rates.

Trump, who is set to return to the White House on Monday, is seen as broadly more business-friendly than outgoing President Joe Biden. During his campaign, Trump floated lowering taxes and reducing regulation, including around energy. However, his proposed tariffs have made some investors and business leaders nervous about the potential for higher prices and a disruptive trade war.

Solomon’s comments came on a conference call discussing Goldman’s fourth-quarter results. The bank beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for the period, with its profit roughly doubling year over year.