Stock market in a ‘very dangerous’ position as jobs and wages run hot, fund manager says – By Elliot Smith (CNBC) / Feb 5, 2024
- Nonfarm payrolls grew by 353,000 in January, fresh data showed last week, vastly outstripping a Dow Jones estimate of 185,000, while average hourly earnings increased 0.6% on a monthly basis.
- “Why is the stock market priced like it is with the economic strength and the Fed being pigeonholed into having to keep these rates high? That’s a very dangerous thing for stocks,” Smead cautioned.
The U.S. stock market is in a “very dangerous” spot as persistently strong jobs numbers and wage growth suggest the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have not had the desired effect, according to Cole Smead, CEO of Smead Capital Management.
Nonfarm payrolls grew by 353,000 in January, fresh data showed last week, vastly outstripping a Dow Jones estimate of 185,000, while average hourly earnings increased 0.6% on a monthly basis, double the consensus forecasts. Unemployment held steady at a historically low 3.7%.
The figures came after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would likely not cut rates in March, as some market participants had anticipated.
