WEBVTT - Mike Wilson Talks Tariffs and Market Reaction

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. Very pleased to be

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<v Speaker 1>joined this morning by Mike Wilson, chief US equity strategist

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<v Speaker 1>at Morgan Stanley as we continue to watch the market

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<v Speaker 1>reaction to all the trade headlines we've seen over the

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<v Speaker 1>last days and weeks. Mike, good morning, Thank you so

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<v Speaker 1>much for being with us. We're seeing futures pull back

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<v Speaker 1>this morning, a pop in the Vicks after the thirty

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<v Speaker 1>five percent announcement on Canada fifteen to twenty, the President

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<v Speaker 1>saying for much of the rest of the world, is

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<v Speaker 1>the market starting to wake up to what could be

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<v Speaker 1>coming when it comes to trade.

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<v Speaker 2>Good morning, Good morning, Nathan Well, I would say, here

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<v Speaker 2>we go again, you know, like we kind of know

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<v Speaker 2>the pattern now. I mean, this is President Trump's style.

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<v Speaker 2>Hill he goes hard and then he you know, he

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't cut back off completely. But it's it's a back

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<v Speaker 2>and forth. And that'sotiating style. You know. It's the old

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<v Speaker 2>bat now where you put your stake in the ground

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<v Speaker 2>and aggressively and then you try to negotiate something. And

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<v Speaker 2>so the market has figured this out though, and I

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<v Speaker 2>think President Trump has figured it out too. But what

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<v Speaker 2>I've found interesting is that he'll come out and do

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<v Speaker 2>something you know, uh that's perceived quite negatively, Like overnight,

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<v Speaker 2>the market will go down a percent and then he'll

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<v Speaker 2>you know, something will change and then the market will

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<v Speaker 2>go up two percent, you know. So it's like one

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<v Speaker 2>step back, two steps forward. Now, that's not going to

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<v Speaker 2>work forever. Eventually we have to get to some deals,

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<v Speaker 2>so you know, we're getting closer. I think, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>he's just trying to exert as much pressure as he

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<v Speaker 2>can to try and get some deals done before these deadlines.

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<v Speaker 2>These deadlines get pushed back, and that's that's a classic

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<v Speaker 2>negotiating style. So we'll see if it's successful. But you know,

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<v Speaker 2>as you mentioned, the market seems to be okay with

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<v Speaker 2>it for now, and that you know, I think as

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<v Speaker 2>you're there's an article you mentioned, I think it does

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<v Speaker 2>embolden him to continue to go down this path.

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<v Speaker 1>Give it where the future's action is going this morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you see the market trying to steer what the

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<v Speaker 1>president could do when it comes to the overall trade regime?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean I think that it's a good thing

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<v Speaker 2>to think about. I mean, is the market going to

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<v Speaker 2>exert its force to kind of to make all the

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<v Speaker 2>folks involved in this policy making to come to some

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<v Speaker 2>sort of conclusion. Hasn't happened yet, there will become a

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<v Speaker 2>point of exhaustion, is the way I like to think

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<v Speaker 2>about it. To me, that's probably sometime during the third quarter.

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<v Speaker 2>I think the other thing that could happen in the

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<v Speaker 2>third quarter that may exert some pressure is that so

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<v Speaker 2>far the terriffs haven't really had an impact on margins

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<v Speaker 2>and revenue or demand. And some of that has to

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<v Speaker 2>do with the timing of everything. Right. We have a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of companies still selling older inventory that's cheaper, so

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<v Speaker 2>it hasn't had to flow through the pricing or margins.

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<v Speaker 2>But that we think begins to change in the third quarter,

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<v Speaker 2>and that could be the catalyst because stocks will react

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<v Speaker 2>to hits to margins, or perhaps we get a spike

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<v Speaker 2>in inflation, which you know then causes the Fed the

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<v Speaker 2>town we're hawk ish and the market will care about

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<v Speaker 2>that for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you expect companies to start to telegraph that in

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<v Speaker 1>their earnings forecast? We've started to see some companies talk

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<v Speaker 1>about what the tariff impact could be as they've been

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<v Speaker 1>reporting in the early going. How do you see that

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<v Speaker 1>shaking out.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so I think it's primarily an issue. It's going

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<v Speaker 2>to be an issue for you know, some of the

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<v Speaker 2>consumer companies where they don't have a lot of pricing power,

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<v Speaker 2>they've got probably some excess inventory, you know, on purpose,

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<v Speaker 2>or maybe they did that because they won't you know,

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<v Speaker 2>they wanted to get ahead of the tariffs. And so

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<v Speaker 2>I do think that that's the part of the market

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<v Speaker 2>where we could start to hear. Second quarter should be fine.

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<v Speaker 2>It's going to be about the third quarter guidance. And

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<v Speaker 2>those companies I mentioned tend to report towards the end

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<v Speaker 2>of earning season, so end of July early August is

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<v Speaker 2>when I would expect to hear more certain negative comments there.

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<v Speaker 2>I think in the early parts of earnings we're not

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<v Speaker 2>going to hear much negativity around that. You know, financials

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<v Speaker 2>don't have a lot of you know, tariff implications. Some

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<v Speaker 2>of the bigger companies can mitigate this. The weaker dollar

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<v Speaker 2>is quite helpful. Is an offset to the multinationals, and

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<v Speaker 2>now we have lower oil prices, which I think is

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<v Speaker 2>also an offset for some of the terrors from a

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<v Speaker 2>consumer standpoint.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you expect dollar weakness to continue if we do

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<v Speaker 1>see higher terrorf freights shake out across across the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we have a weaker dollar view over the next

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<v Speaker 2>twelve months, mainly because of the rate differential. We expect

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<v Speaker 2>many of the Fed it's going to be cutting probably

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<v Speaker 2>more aggressively. They have more to cut than other central

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<v Speaker 2>banks around the world. That's the primary driver. And then

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<v Speaker 2>of course, you know, as inflation does eventually come down,

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<v Speaker 2>we think this is a temporary spike in inflation from terrors.

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<v Speaker 2>That would be another driver. So in the very near term,

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<v Speaker 2>I think one of the bigger risks of the market

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<v Speaker 2>people aren't thinking about is that we could see a

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<v Speaker 2>dollar rally, just a counter trend move, like the trend

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<v Speaker 2>is down, but you know, nothing goes straight down all

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<v Speaker 2>the time, and the dollar does look to me like

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<v Speaker 2>it's trying to state a rally here that actually could

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<v Speaker 2>be somewhat of a negative for equities in the third quarter.

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<v Speaker 2>Are potentially nothing dramatic, but I mean, I think that's

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<v Speaker 2>probably a bigger risk than people are thinking about.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell me a little bit more about why you think

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<v Speaker 1>there could be a rally in the dollar, because there's

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<v Speaker 1>been you know, some thought that with you know, this

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<v Speaker 1>aggressive trade stance that the President's been taking that it

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<v Speaker 1>could spark a negative reaction from the currency traders in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of what other countries do.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I think we've seen that, right. I mean, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>markets trade in advance, and I think the currency market

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<v Speaker 2>has pre traded a lot of what you just said.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, quite frankly, given the FED. The Fed's been

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<v Speaker 2>on hold all year and many of its peers around

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<v Speaker 2>the world have been cutting rates. The dollar, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I mean should have been stronger and it hasn't been.

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<v Speaker 2>So I think I think a lot of the tariff

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<v Speaker 2>concerns are in the currency market, and so that's digested.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, what's not in the market. It still is

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<v Speaker 2>this idea that the Fed's on hold, and it's our

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<v Speaker 2>calls that the Feds are on hold the rest of

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<v Speaker 2>this year, I think, I think, you know, at least

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<v Speaker 2>to the third quarter. And so to me, it's just

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<v Speaker 2>a counter trend rally. And then of course I'm a technician,

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<v Speaker 2>like a lot of investors, and it looks to me

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<v Speaker 2>like it's trying to stage a tactical rally. That's all

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<v Speaker 2>we're looking for.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, So in our last thirty seconds, do you expect

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<v Speaker 1>to continued US leadership when it comes to stocks compared

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<v Speaker 1>to the rest of the world.

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<v Speaker 2>I do I think, you know, I think we have

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<v Speaker 2>a pretty good clean out in April. This has been

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<v Speaker 2>our call since April. The rate of change on everything

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<v Speaker 2>we look at from a stock standpoint reversed by the way.

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<v Speaker 2>It doesn't mean that foreign stocks, you know, can't perform too,

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<v Speaker 2>But I do not believe in this idea that we're

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<v Speaker 2>going to have this multi year run in foreign equities

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<v Speaker 2>relative to the US's and I think that's played out

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<v Speaker 2>since we made that call in early April.

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<v Speaker 1>And thanks so much, Mike. Always great to have you

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<v Speaker 1>with us on daybreak. That's Mike Wilson. He is chief

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<v Speaker 1>US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley