JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday called the U.S. stock market inflated and said that he felt more cautious than others in the business world because of the risks from deficit spending, inflation and geopolitical upheaval.
“Asset prices are kind of inflated, by any measure. They are in the top 10% or 15%” of historical valuations, Dimon told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Dimon said that he was speaking specifically about the American stock market, which is in the midst of a multi-year bull run.
The S&P 500 had back-to-back annual gains of more than 20% in 2023 and 2024, the first time that has happened in over 25 years. Last year, Dimon even called the shares of his own company expensive.
On Wednesday, Dimon also noted that parts of the bond market, like sovereign debt, are “at all-time highs.”
“So yeah, they’re elevated, and you need fairly good outcomes to justify those prices,” Dimon said. “Having pro-growth strategies helps make that happen, but there are negatives out there, and they can tend to surprise you.”
Dimon, 68, is one of the most respected voices in finance after he built JPMorgan into the biggest American bank by many measures, including assets and market valuation.
He has been sounding a note of caution since 2022, when he said a “hurricane” was heading for the U.S. economy. That storm, however, has yet to arrive as the U.S. exceeded expectations in recent years, and the election of Donald Trump in November boosted hopes around what a pro-growth administration will do.
“I do have a little more caution around a bunch of subjects,” Dimon said Wednesday. “What I’m a little cautious about is the deficit spending; it’s a global issue, not just an American issue,” he said. “And the related [question], ‘Will inflation go away?’ I’m not so sure.”
The rising tide of global conflict, including the Ukraine war, tension in the Middle East and growing threats from China has “just got me very concerned how it’s going to affect our world for the next 100 years,” Dimon said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon voiced support for tariffs on imports to the U.S. if they bolster national security, and said that he and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk have smoothed over a previously contentious relationship. Dimon also said he had no intention to run for office in 2028.
Later Wednesday, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon acknowledged that stock market valuations were high, while indicating that they could be justified by enthusiasm over the impact of both artificial intelligence and President Trump’s expected moves to relax regulation for American companies.
“It’s hard to dispute the fact that equity multiples are high,” Solomon said. “Markets look forward, and we are coming off of a very, very tough regulatory environment across all industries.”
If Trump administration officials allow more mergers to happen, boosting capital markets activities, it could boost GDP growth by a half percentage point, Solomon said.
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