DoubleLine CEO and CIO Jeffrey Gundlach joins CNBC's Scott Wapner following Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's debut FOMC press conference, calling it the start of a new era. Gundlach's key takeaway is unmistakable — Warsh repeated "we will deliver price stability" more than anything else, and his decision to buy time through five task forces rather than move rates suggests no action until at least the fall. Gundlach reads the inflation framework task force with some skepticism, noting it could open the door to new measurement techniques that conveniently engineer a path to declaring price stability. On the dot plot, with nine members projecting a hike, he sees it primarily as jawboning — but effective jawboning. He also raises the possibility that Warsh may prove more Volcker-like in his independence from the two-year Treasury, rather than slavishly following it as his predecessors have done for two decades.
On markets, Gundlach sees the hawkish tone as net positive for long-term Treasuries, arguing that a credible commitment to price stability actually provides better support for the long bond than the over-easing that had been driving yields higher. He remains cautious on US equities — now approaching 50% concentration in just ten names — and sees the funding burden of the AI CapEx cycle as the back side of the earnings story markets have been celebrating. He remains most constructive on non-US markets, particularly emerging market equities and local currency EM bonds, which have been the best performing asset class for dollar-based investors year to date. He closes with a pointed quip on Fed independence — thanking the stars that Donald Trump is not running the Federal Reserve.
Mr. Gundlach is CEO of DoubleLine. In 2011, he appeared on the cover of Barron's as "The New Bond King." In 2013, Institutional Investor named him "Money Manager of the Year." In 2012, 2015 and 2016, he was named one of "The Fifty Most Influential" in Bloomberg Markets. In 2017, he was inducted into the FIASI Fixed Income Hall of Fame. Mr. Gundlach is a summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, with degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy.