WEBVTT - JPMorgan's David Kelly Talks Inflation, CPI Report

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>This morning, the focus is on inflation CPI coming in

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<v Speaker 2>below expectations, tradus adding to bets for two more rate

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<v Speaker 2>cuts this year, including one next Wednesday. David Kevey of

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<v Speaker 2>JP Morgan Acid Management joins us. Now for more, David,

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<v Speaker 2>let's start with the inflation data. Is three the new two?

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<v Speaker 2>And is it going to stop this Federal Reserve from

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<v Speaker 2>cunning interest rights?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, I think that that's going to keep on cutting rates.

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<v Speaker 4>It's generally a better than expected report, but I think

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<v Speaker 4>what it really shows is we have a K shaped economy,

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<v Speaker 4>and it's called sort of a K shaped CPI report.

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<v Speaker 4>The thing that really jumped out of me is, first

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<v Speaker 4>of all, rental costs coming down. There's you know, we've

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<v Speaker 4>got a big change in demographics here and rents are

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<v Speaker 4>Rental inflation is just going away. You also saw use

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<v Speaker 4>vehicle prices full, although it's pretty interesting. And then the

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<v Speaker 4>big thing here is core goods prices outside of food

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<v Speaker 4>and energy. That's the stuff that should be hit by tariffs,

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<v Speaker 4>but that's only up two tens of percent of one

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<v Speaker 4>and a half percent year over year. It is clear

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<v Speaker 4>that mainstream retailers don't believe they can pass on the

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<v Speaker 4>tariff increases right now, and that's what's making this inflation

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<v Speaker 4>rate a little bit tamer than people feared.

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<v Speaker 1>David doesn't just justify what the market's already sussed out,

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<v Speaker 1>which is that inflation fears were overblown earlier this year.

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<v Speaker 1>The Fed can keep cutting potentially below three percent by

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<v Speaker 1>the end of next year, and that it's not going

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<v Speaker 1>to cause a huge inflation problem.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I never thought we had a long term inflation problem,

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<v Speaker 4>but I think it is still early days on the

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<v Speaker 4>tariff effects. So what's going to happen is right now

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<v Speaker 4>retailers feel like they can't pass on the price increases.

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<v Speaker 4>But early next year you're going to have this refund bonanza.

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<v Speaker 4>The average incompact refund per household, we believe it's going

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<v Speaker 4>to be able four thousand dollars. Last year is thirty

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<v Speaker 4>two hundred dollars, and that is the exact time when

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<v Speaker 4>retailers are going to feel like they can pass on

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<v Speaker 4>these tariff increases. So I do think we've got a

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<v Speaker 4>little bit of a spurred in tarifflation still to come.

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<v Speaker 4>But then you know, if nothing else happens, there isn't

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<v Speaker 4>a lot of momentum in this economy, and it'll slow

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<v Speaker 4>down again, and it'll cool down again. So I don't

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<v Speaker 4>think we've got a long term inflation problem. My real

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<v Speaker 4>question is, given how bubbly financial markets are, do you

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<v Speaker 4>really need the Federal Reserve adding more liquidity to the

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<v Speaker 4>party right now? Or should they just hang on in

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<v Speaker 4>there and say this is enough liquidity?

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<v Speaker 1>What are you saying? What are you seeing that really

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<v Speaker 1>is bubbly given the fact that earnings have exceeded expectations,

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<v Speaker 1>the forecasts have exceeded expectations, and we're likely to see

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<v Speaker 1>more of the same next week with the tech earnings.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, well, valuations are extremely high for the over now.

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<v Speaker 4>Obviously it's a lot of it's concentrated in the meya

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<v Speaker 4>cap stocks, but also profits is a share of GDP

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<v Speaker 4>are extraordinarily high. So overall, the total valuable US market

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<v Speaker 4>cap is about three hundred and sixty five percent of

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<v Speaker 4>GDP right now. It was about two hundred and twelve

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<v Speaker 4>percent before the tech bubble bursts back in two thousand.

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<v Speaker 4>It was eighty seven percent before the eighty seven stock

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<v Speaker 4>market crash. So there's you know, it's leverage upon leverage,

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<v Speaker 4>high pe ratios on a very high level of earnings

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<v Speaker 4>relative to GDP. Now, I still think this is a

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<v Speaker 4>very good economy for equities, but I wouldn't say that

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<v Speaker 4>you could call the market depressed at this stage. I

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<v Speaker 4>think that, you know, one of the dangers here is

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<v Speaker 4>that everybody gets out over their skis and then you

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<v Speaker 4>have a significant market correction or a bear market.

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<v Speaker 1>So are you talking about potentially if the Fed is

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<v Speaker 1>cutting into strength, they'll be making an error this month.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, because it's a different economy. And we keep on

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<v Speaker 4>talking about the Fed's going to tighten to lower inflation.

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<v Speaker 4>Forget about it. The Federal reserves, short term magistrates, are

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<v Speaker 4>not impacting growth, they're not impacting inflation, but they are

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<v Speaker 4>impacting financial markets. And the big problem that we've had

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<v Speaker 4>in this century of the two thousands hasn't been CPI

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<v Speaker 4>inflation getting getting out of hand. It's asset bubbles, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>whether it's housing bubbles or tech bubbles. And the Federal

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<v Speaker 4>Reserve should not be in the business of blowing up bubbles.

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<v Speaker 4>So I think they should, you know, just take it.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't mind if they cut rates a little bitier,

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<v Speaker 4>but I certainly would have a problem if they cut

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<v Speaker 4>rates below what they think neutral is if the economy

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<v Speaker 4>is you know, it is not threatened by a recession,

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<v Speaker 4>because we are we are seeing money go into financial markets,

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<v Speaker 4>go into financial assets, and just not come out. And

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<v Speaker 4>it's sort of it's kind of like a stuck valve,

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<v Speaker 4>and the more more money goes in, the more this

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<v Speaker 4>this market just seems to accelerate upon itself.

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<v Speaker 2>And David, if we ask Governor Wall of this question

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<v Speaker 2>when he was on the program last week, we asked

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<v Speaker 2>whether he was getting lved into kind of interest rates

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<v Speaker 2>and potentially reducing financial markets. David, do you think there's

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<v Speaker 2>a problem with their interpretation of the dual mandate or

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<v Speaker 2>just the dual mandate?

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<v Speaker 3>I think the dual mandate itself.

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<v Speaker 4>I think that I think that if you if you

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<v Speaker 4>they need Congress needs to recognize, they need to recognize

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<v Speaker 4>that monetary policy has significant impacts on financial conditions and

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<v Speaker 4>therefore maintaining stable financial conditions should be part of the goal.

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<v Speaker 4>It's it's kind of like with the ECB for years

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<v Speaker 4>decided they didn't they weren't supposed to interview if one

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<v Speaker 4>particular country got into significant dec coomic distress.

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<v Speaker 3>And destabilize the eurosystem.

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<v Speaker 4>And then finally Mario drag He said, look, if Greece

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<v Speaker 4>is a problem, we're going to do something about Greece. Well,

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<v Speaker 4>this is a similar situation where the mandate needs to

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<v Speaker 4>be expanded a little to recognize the impact of FED

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<v Speaker 4>policy on financial and other asset price bubbles, to try

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<v Speaker 4>to prevent bubbles or busts, because of.

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<v Speaker 3>Course that's why bubble creates.

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<v Speaker 4>A bus and you want to have financial market stability,

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<v Speaker 4>not just economic stability, and I think the Federal Reserve

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<v Speaker 4>kind of have an impact on that.

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<v Speaker 2>David, this was thoughtful. We appreciate your time. David Kelly

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<v Speaker 2>there of JP Morgan Asset Management,