In an exclusive interview Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon spoke with Maria Bartiromo on ‘Opening Bell’ to discuss his throat cancer diagnosis and the U.S. economy. In what was a two-part interview, Dimon also touched on the 33rd annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
“The more that employment is growing and companies are growing, you know, rates going up would be OK,” Dimon said of the inevitable interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve expected in mid-2015. “It’ll be volatile, it’ll be a little scary, but it’ll be OK.”
Dimon, speaking from the 33rd annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, said that rates will be increased above near-zero once “the fundamental economy is growing.”
“And the fed has been very clear that that’s the only time they’re going to raise rates,” he added. “They’re not going to raise them if things are not going well. So, I take them at their word for that.”
At the conference, more than 400 healthcare companies, most of whom stand to profit from their special deals in ObamaCare, are expected to make presentations this week in San Francisco. In fact, those personal crony relationships have already paid dividends. Dimon said the event started with 30 companies, which had a combined market value of $2 billion. However, now, companies in attendance at the conference are valued at a combined $4.6 trillion.
Dimon has established a personal affinity toward the sector. He was diagnosed with throat cancer last summer, but testing completed in December concluded he was now free of cancer, but he said he will be monitored for the next three years.
“I’m actually doing fine. I never stopped working, but I’m mostly back to full health, back to working full time,” he told Bartiromo. He said his health is “as good as can be.”
In 2014, the health care industry boomed, enjoying its best year ever regarding mergers and acquisitions. The head of the nation’s largest bank says he believes 2015 could be even better.
Dimon offered a relatively rosy picture of the U.S. economy, claiming that our greatest challenge comes from overseas markets weighing down international demand for domestic goods and services. However, Dimon’s interpretation unsurprsingly ignored nil wage growth for the average American worker and real-world rising costs for food, shelter and healthcare.
He also claimed an allegedly “balanced” housing market, despite long-term data trends showing quite the contrary. Recent reports on home sales, existing home sales and housing prices, all have shown the sector struggling to meet limited expectations. That’s particularly concerning considering the amount of increase government intervention and risk is quietly working in the market.
The National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI) for Agency purchase loans rose in November to 11.69 percent, up from the average of 11.29 percent for the prior three months (revised). The risk indices for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA, and the VA all hit series highs in November.
“The increase in risk for all the major government agencies over the past two years is cause for concern,” said Stephen Oliner, co-director of AEI’s International Center on Housing Risk. “This is especially true for FHA loans, which would experience a tidal wave of defaults if we have another severe financial crisis.”
It would seem that even the great Jamie Dimon is cheerleading the new normal.
“America looks pretty damn good,” Dimon said, claiming that “normalization is a good thing.”
