花旗CEO：对经济讨论太多，会真造成衰退

尽管市场的不稳定影响了花旗银行上一季度业务的净收益，花旗集团的首席执行官迈克尔·考伯特表示，经济状况“不像近期波动显示得那么差，实际上更强韧”，呼吁市场“不要因为过度讨论造成经济衰退”。

花旗是华尔街大型投资银行中本周第一家公布其第四季度收益报告的银行，当期收入为171亿美元，略低于2017年第四季度报告的175亿美元。

在花旗银行于周一上午举行的财报电话会议上，考伯特指出“收入环境比预想中更困难”，对于固定收益产品等市场敏感性行业更是如此。

但考伯特建议不要过分解读2018年12月导致各大主要股市产生震荡的市场波动。尽管承认新年伊始将面临“更不确定”的宏观经济环境，但他警告投资者不要在经济基本面稳固的情况下自己吓自己，最后真的造成衰退。

“我们确信美国甚至更大范围内全球经济的基本面包括活跃有力的劳动力市场、合理的工资增长[和]良好的消费等因素。”考伯特说。

然而，按照考伯特的说法，因为担心上升的利率环境及中美贸易争端持续，投资者的信心已被动摇，造成了市场动荡。

“我们清楚地认识到，以独立事件为基础看到的形势和市场告诉我们的行情出现脱节。”考伯特说。他还补充说，市场面临的“最大风险”是“由于过度讨论真的导致下一次经济衰退，而非经济基本面不好造成衰退。”

市场似乎对考伯特发布的最新消息反响积极，花旗股票周一收盘价上涨4％，接近每股59美元。（财富中文网）

译者：Agatha

Despite a shaky market that impacted his bank’s bottom line last quarter, Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat cited economic conditions that are “stronger and more resilient than recent volatility would indicate” and urged the markets against “talking ourselves into the next recession.”

Citi was the first of the major Wall Street investment banks to report their fourth-quarter earnings this week, disclosing revenues of $17.1 billion in the period that fell shy of the $17.5 billion reported in the fourth quarter of 2017.

On the bank’s earnings call Monday morning, Corbat noted a “revenue environment [that] was more challenging than we anticipated,” particularly for market-sensitive sectors like fixed-income products.

But Corbat advised against reading too much into the volatility that rocked most major equity markets in December 2018. While acknowledging a “more uncertain” macroeconomic environment to start the year, he warned against investors spooking themselves into a downturn in the face of solid economic fundamentals.

“We see certainly a U.S. and even more broad global economic where the underlying fundamentals [are] comprised of strong, tight labor markets, reasonable wage increases [and] good consumption,” Corbat said.

Yet concerns over a rising interest rate environment and the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China, according to Corbat, have conflated to sap investor confidence and roil the markets.

“We clearly see a disconnect between what we see in our business on an anecdotal basis and what the markets are saying,” he said. Corbat added that “the biggest risk” facing the markets is “one of talking ourselves into the next recession rather than fundamentals taking us there.”

The market appeared to respond favorably to Corbat’s update, with Citi shares up 4% at the close of trading Monday, to nearly $59 per share.