To be fair, Dimon was just calling what he saw — especially when the tinderbox that is the Middle East may already have been lit by Israel’s response to Hamas, all but scuppering the detente between the Saudis and the Israelis. Given Joe Biden was jawboning threats to scare The Living Daylights out of other state actors like Iran so they would not get involved in the conflict, sent two carrier groups to the region and ordered Anthony Blinken to crisscross capitals to shore up support for friendly governments with domestic Arab populations over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, the fear of terrorism in other parts of the world is real.
Now may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades, declared Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, in the bank’s 3Q report. He was expressing concerns about geopolitical risks to the global economy because of the war in Ukraine and Israel’s impending attack on Gaza which could hit food and energy prices.
Like the US Federal Reserve Board’s strategy on interest rates, the risk may stay higher for longer too. Managing investor expectations is an art at best but Dimon has been very successful at this for 20 years. The cautious guidance was provided right after the bank declared US$13.2 billion ($18.1 billion) in 3Q profits, up 35% from last year. After the announcement, JP Morgan’s stock rose.
