7 Highlights of Brian Moynihan on CNBC

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, was interviewed on CNBC this morning.  These are the highlights:

(1) The “inverted yield curve” last week was an indication of a “flight to quality” as (foreign) investors purchased U.S. Treasuries in order to receive a positive yield.

(2) The U.S consumer is doing well — spending more and making more.

(3) The odds of a recession are low in the near future.

(4) Resolving the trade war will take a long time.  It is resulting in capital spending declining.  To offset this, we need to resolve the U.S budget, approve USMCA, and resolve Brexit.

(5) The U.S. consumer economy is as big as the entire China economy.  The world needs U.S. growth.  The Federal Reserve will base its decisions on data. Current data do not indicate that some action is needed.

(6) The U.S. economy will grow at 2.3% in 2019 which is very good.

(7) Bank of America is buying back $7.25 billion of its stock every quarter.  If its stock price goes down, then that results in buying back more shares.