The Worst is Yet to Come, Says Gundlach

DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach says the economy and financial markets will never be the same. This according to a recent article in Financial Advisor magazine.

“The low we hit in March, “Gundlach said in a recent webcast, “I would bet dollars to donuts that low will get taken out.” He also warned against believing the “v-shaped” recovery predictions of some analysts. Instead, Gundlach compares this year’s market declines to the 1929 crash where the markets “held their low levels for nearly a year before worsening again.”

According to Gundlach, bank analysts are being particularly over-optimistic, arguing there are no guarantees that equities will be able to reverse their declines: “I don’t think it will be back to where it was prior for a long time, particularly on a real basis.” He argued that financial markets are behaving in a dysfunctional manner due in part to the monetary and fiscal stimulus packages and notes how fixed income is no longer functioning as a safe haven—the amount of distressed bonds reportedly quadrupled in less than a week to nearly $1 trillion.

The U.S. economy “looks like a depression scenario” according to Gundlach, contending that unemployment could rise to at least 10%.