From Cockroaches to Clouseau
Markets are playing data detective for a pair of credit problems hiding in plain sight.
Where are the cockroaches?
Source: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
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Words matter, particularly when data-dependent markets are starved of new information by the US government shutdown. That’s been rammed home twice in the last week, as the US sold off sharply first in response to trade threats by President Donald Trump on social media, and then to a comment from JPMorgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, likening problems with auto-loan credit to “cockroaches.” As he put it, “When you see one cockroach, there are probably more.”