WEBVTT - Mike Wilson Talks Staying Bullish on Stocks

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

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<v Speaker 2>They are gearing up for another week of geopolitical talks,

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<v Speaker 2>more corporate earnings, and yes, we have all eyes on

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<v Speaker 2>Fedhairja Powell at the end of the week for any

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<v Speaker 2>clues on the pace of interest rates. So what does

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<v Speaker 2>this all mean for the markets? Well, let's go to

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<v Speaker 2>Mike Wilson, he's chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley,

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<v Speaker 2>for some insight in all this. All right, Mike, I

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<v Speaker 2>want to start with the Fed's annual retreat in Jackson

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<v Speaker 2>Hole this week. What kind of tone do you think

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<v Speaker 2>Cher J. Powell will take on Friday?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, good morning, I think.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean it's a quiet time of the year, so

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<v Speaker 3>you know, at any event is probably going to.

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<v Speaker 1>Have a little bit more impact on a short term basis.

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<v Speaker 3>I think the expectation going into this particular Jackson Hole

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<v Speaker 3>meeting is that, you know, Chair Powell is going to

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<v Speaker 3>remain somewhat balanced because they want to make sure inflation

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<v Speaker 3>is under control before they start cutting race. Now, the

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<v Speaker 3>market is pricing in somewhere between eighty and ninety percent

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<v Speaker 3>chance of a bed in September.

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<v Speaker 1>So what I'm going to be watching for.

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<v Speaker 3>Is does that change after this meeting, Because if it

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<v Speaker 3>stays at eighty to ninety percent as we approach the

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<v Speaker 3>September meeting, the FED will cut, I mean they will.

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<v Speaker 3>They will not want to disappoint markets. So look, our

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<v Speaker 3>expectation is still for no cuts this year. As a house,

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<v Speaker 3>I think, you know, the evidence is sort of building

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<v Speaker 3>that maybe tariffs aren't going to have as being an

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<v Speaker 3>impact on inflation.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that as a chair is thinking, and.

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<v Speaker 3>That should lead to you know, a greater chance of

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<v Speaker 3>rate cuts in September.

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<v Speaker 1>So so that's what we're set up for right now.

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<v Speaker 3>And I think if that were to come down to

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<v Speaker 3>fifty percent, that would be disappointing for markets. So I

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<v Speaker 3>think this that's that's what we're going to be watching

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<v Speaker 3>kind of on Friday to see after his initial speech

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<v Speaker 3>and then into next week.

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<v Speaker 2>And sind you mentioned those raycuts, So the FED is

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<v Speaker 2>being able to digest some more labor market data. The

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<v Speaker 2>level of unemployment inflation. Is that all playing into your

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<v Speaker 2>FED rate cut bed as well?

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<v Speaker 1>That's right.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean our economists have been looking for slowing growth

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<v Speaker 3>and stickier inflation that's actually played out. I mean it's

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<v Speaker 3>been That's exactly what has happened, which is why the

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<v Speaker 3>FED has been on hold this year. But I think,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, as we look out, the risk of slowing

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<v Speaker 3>labor looks like a bigger concern than say, sticky inflation.

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<v Speaker 3>And we all know that FED funds rates are too

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<v Speaker 3>high for most businesses and most consumers. I mean, that's

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<v Speaker 3>why interest rates sensitive parts in the market have been

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<v Speaker 3>basically stuck in a recession now for the last two

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<v Speaker 3>or three years, So there is appetite to cut rates.

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<v Speaker 1>I think at the FED they just want to make sure.

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<v Speaker 3>I think they still have a little you know, PTSD

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<v Speaker 3>from twenty twenty one. They want to just make sure,

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<v Speaker 3>and that's what that's the balancing act right now. In

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<v Speaker 3>the meantime, however, what's really going on is that earning's

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<v Speaker 3>revisions have been explosive and we've been running with this,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, really since April, and that's what's been driving

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<v Speaker 3>stocks higher. So even in the face of slowing growth,

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<v Speaker 3>earnings revisions have been fantastic, and companies have sort of

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<v Speaker 3>done a good job of mitigating some of these risks

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<v Speaker 3>from the from the terrace.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, since you mention earnings, I mean let's go there.

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<v Speaker 2>We have retail earnings. They're going to be front and

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<v Speaker 2>center this week. We're talking about Walmart home be below's target.

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<v Speaker 2>What are you expecting? Is it all about the tariff impact?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that's that's a that's a great question.

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<v Speaker 3>So so far terrifts have really not slowed down this

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<v Speaker 3>earnings train, as I mentioned, but this is the one

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<v Speaker 3>area where we do believe tariffs could have a negative impact.

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<v Speaker 3>Is then sort of this consumer discretionary area where these

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<v Speaker 3>companies don't have a ton of pricing power. We're not

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<v Speaker 3>seeing as much discounting there, maybe from the exporters themselves.

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<v Speaker 3>So the question is who's going to eat those terrafts

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<v Speaker 3>And this is probably where you know companies may may

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<v Speaker 3>may see some margin pressure. So this is this is

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<v Speaker 3>this is probably the bigger risk quite frankly, this week

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<v Speaker 3>or over the next couple of weeks for for equities.

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<v Speaker 3>But that's a very narrow part of the equity market,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, and as we've said for a long time,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, my view is that you know, the terriffs

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<v Speaker 3>themselves will be a shared cost between exporters, importers and

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<v Speaker 3>consumers where those terraffs can be passed on and we

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<v Speaker 3>and we were like, out, you know, there are a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of areas where those tariffs can't be passed on.

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<v Speaker 3>So uh, you know, that's that's that's that's the risk.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a margin risk. And this is the part of

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<v Speaker 3>the year, the third quarter and the fourth quarter where

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<v Speaker 3>we'll see some of that margin pressure. But it's very idiosyncratic, right,

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<v Speaker 3>So it's not as big a riskaurantce to the S

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<v Speaker 3>and P five hundred, but it is it is for

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<v Speaker 3>individual companies.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, what about Tech? I mean, and some focus this

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<v Speaker 2>we give a Palo Alto after the close. Have you

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<v Speaker 2>been impressed with with tech earning so far? And how

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<v Speaker 2>is Palo Alto going to line up? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean Tech has been been bouncing back.

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<v Speaker 3>Let's not forget one of the big uh you know

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<v Speaker 3>things we've been riunning about for the last year and

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<v Speaker 3>a half is that we've been in a very mixed

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<v Speaker 3>earnings and economic performance overall, meaning we've been going through

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<v Speaker 3>sort of a rolling recession. And one of the recessions

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<v Speaker 3>that have been out there is overall spending on IT campbacks,

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<v Speaker 3>so away from AI campbacks, and then last year we

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<v Speaker 3>got a deceleration in AI campbacks starting in December, which

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<v Speaker 3>is why a lot of those stocks did poorly in

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<v Speaker 3>the first quarter.

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<v Speaker 1>That's an overlooked fact. Everybody thinks it's about you know, terroris, Taris, terrafs.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not about It's not about terrorfs. There's an AI

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<v Speaker 1>campax deceleration and in.

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<v Speaker 4>April all of that bottom and the overall it campack

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<v Speaker 4>cycle also about them in our view, So tech earnings

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<v Speaker 4>have been driven by those two features, and we think

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<v Speaker 4>that continues.

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<v Speaker 1>I think people have been a little too bearish on software.

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<v Speaker 3>People have been concerned that, you know, AI is going

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<v Speaker 3>to eat into some of the software companies, and that

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<v Speaker 3>may be true over time, but let's not forget that

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<v Speaker 3>the overall spinning on software has been slowing or even

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<v Speaker 3>in like I said, a software session for the last

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<v Speaker 3>couple of years, and now we're.

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<v Speaker 1>Coming out of that.

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<v Speaker 3>So I think that continues, and I think on a

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<v Speaker 3>relative basis, tech earnings continue to look pretty good.

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<v Speaker 2>And to play along with what you said, we have

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<v Speaker 2>about a minute left here. Have you you've been bullished lately?

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<v Speaker 2>Are you still bullish?

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<v Speaker 3>I am on a six to twelve month basis. I

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<v Speaker 3>actually feel better today than I have in quite a while.

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<v Speaker 3>On the fundamentals. Now, the stock market is already dis

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<v Speaker 3>koind of a lot of this. This is, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>stocks trade ahead of the of the data, so you

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<v Speaker 3>know we are going to have some sort of consolidation.

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<v Speaker 3>We've been running about that too, probably in the third

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<v Speaker 3>quarter at some point, but we'd be buyers of that.

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<v Speaker 3>That's the main message, is that we think we're sort

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<v Speaker 3>of beginning a new bull market in April. We're not

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<v Speaker 3>going anywhere near those lows, even if we have what

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<v Speaker 3>feels like an overall economic ascension because the market ary

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<v Speaker 3>diskind of that is looking ahead. So consolidation is a

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<v Speaker 3>consolidation if you bought. And what we're really waiting for

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<v Speaker 3>is sort of a broadening out to make the call

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<v Speaker 3>that we're going to see some of the small cap

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<v Speaker 3>stocks work better, some of the consumer discretionary, some of

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<v Speaker 3>the areas that have really been left behind in the

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<v Speaker 3>last couple of years, and that's going to be contingent

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<v Speaker 3>on the FED cutting rates.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, Thank you, Mike that and Mike Wilson, Chief

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<v Speaker 2>US I could be strategist at Morgan Stanley