JPMorgan CEO warns of "terrible" fourth quarter
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon speaks at the 50th annual Investment Company Institute (ICI) general membership meeting in Washington in this May 8, 2008 file photo.
Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) said on Thursday the U.S. bank has had a "terrible" November and December, blaming the "normal culprits:" mortgages, credit, and high yield bonds and loans.
"November itself has been a terrible trading month ... (and) December so far is pretty terrible," Jamie Dimon told CNBC. "It will be a tough quarter."
Dimon said he was referring to the trading, loans and mortgage segments of the largest U.S. bank.
Looking ahead, the CEO said U.S. housing prices -- which spawned the current credit crisis -- could fall another 20 percent. He said that, "if we're lucky," the market could start to recover after two more quarters.
Dimon added that it does not currently make sense for two major investment banks to merge, adding that acquiring a brokerage unit is not a strategic imperative for JPMorgan.
Dimon's remarks on the bank's fourth quarter were seen hitting its shares, which represented the biggest drag on the Dow Jones industrial average on Thursday afternoon. JPMorgan shares were down 11.1 percent at $29.80 in late trading.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Andre Grenon)
