The Federal Reserve “should have done it earlier,” Calamos Investments President and CEO John Koudounis said when asked during the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit in New York on Sept. 24 about last week’s 50-basis-point cut in interest rates.
Rates “definitely need to come down,” the CEO said.
“Do I think that 50 basis points was warranted? Typically, a jumbo cut like that is reserved for a time of crisis or if we definitely think that we’re going into (a) recession,” Koudounis said. “Or some people might say maybe it was political because we want to stimulate the economy … before the elections.”
Koudounis pointed to consumer confidence data released Sept. 24.
“Now if you look at consumer confidence in today’s numbers, it’s (at a) three-year low,” he said. “So, it does warrant that rates come down.”
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index dropped in September to 98.7 from an upwardly revised 105.6 in August. September’s decline marked the biggest since August 2021, the Conference Board said in a Sept. 24 news release.
“The situation is not as good as the markets are predicting here,” Koudounis said, adding that “stimulus for just mortgages alone by lowering rates will definitely help the economy.”
Asked if he expects additional rate cutting this year, “I think we’ll get more, yes,” the CEO said.
