This morning we noted that Jamie Dimon, the big boss at JP Morgan Chase, seems to lack confidence in the government's programs to prevent our financial meltdown from getting even worse. His remarks on the JP Morgan third-quarter earnings call this morning were a bit more supportive of the plan but he still seems unsure The Committee To Save The World has accomplished its goal.
“The U.S. government is trying to do some of powerful things to fix the situation,” Dimon said. “I think what they are doing in this package, plus all the prior packages, is very powerful and you will see some effects.”
The emphasis is ours in that trying. As Yoda would say, "There is no try. There is either do or do not." If you're only trying, you aren't doing. And we emphasized some effects because that's a long way off from Hank Paulson's statement that the rescue plan would "restore confidence and stability to our financial markets and get credit flowing again."
So does Dimon think the plan will work?
"We hope it will work," he said.
Hope may be a virtue but it is not a tradeable event. And the markets are reflecting that today. Despite these extraordinary moves, LIBOR isn't coming down as fast as many had thought it would, equity markets are pulling back on realizing that credit markets have not become unstuck and banks are not lending to one another.
How long before Dimon gets a gravel voiced call from Hank Paulson delivering the message, "Your lack of faith disturbs me."
