The Stock Market Is Not Ready For The Fed

$GS

Years of discussing when and how the Fed will raise interest rates probably is not going to prevent market participants from being caught off guard, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) President Gary Cohn said Wednesday.

“We’re probably less ready than people think,” Mr. Cohn said on a podcast posted Wednesday on the firm’s website. “It will not at all be surprising to me if there are some interesting market reactions based on official change in rate policy by the Fed.”

Economists estimate the US central bank will begin raising its benchmark target in September after more than 6 years of near-Zero rates. Mr. Cohn cited QE (quantitative easing) in the US and Europe as examples of macroeconomic events that were long expected and still caused market swings when announced.

“When it does happen, it is usually not the 1st-derivative event that people are caught off guard by,” Mr. Cohn said. “They are caught off guard by the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th derivative events. It’s ‘Oh yeah, when interest rates go up, that happens.’”

Goldman Sachs, one of the largest global trading banks, posted a 12% rise in fixed-income revenue in Q-1 of this yearof the year. CFO Harvey Schwartz said that period “was dominated by one primary theme, central bank policies.”

Most corporate clients have already taken advantage of low interest rates by issuing debt and raising capital, Mr. Cohn said.

See the complete discussion here: http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/podcasts/episodes/6-24-2015-gary-cohn.html

Stay tuned…

HeffX-LTN

Paul Ebeling

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