When a Wall Street veteran redacts his own research because of US president Donald Trump, you know fear runs deeper than market volatility – or does it?
A recent webinar featuring JPMorgan’s Michael Cembalest was notable not for what he said, but what he did not say. “I’ve said most of what I wanted to say on this call,” he remarked, “but not all of it.”
For the first time, he must think about how his words might reflect on the firm “at a time when people are being held accountable for their views and the things that they say in ways that they probably shouldn’t be.”
It echoed his April 2nd report, “Redacted: Straight talk from the CEO front lines on Liberation Day”, in which sections were blacked out.
Tariffs were not the only issue hurting business confidence, wrote Cembalest, and it was important to “talk frankly”. There followed pages more redacted than a CIA memo.
Some were spooked, seeing this as another terrifying glimpse of America’s authoritarian turn. In truth, this was an act of performative censorship. Anyone following events could easily guess what lay behind the redacted text. By being bold enough to say he was holding back, Cembalest was playing the part of a court jester, tossing barbs at the mad king while kneeling at his feet.
Last month, Cembalest said the stock market “cannot be indicted, arrested or deported; it cannot be intimidated, threatened or bullied; it has no gender, ethnicity or religion... It’s the ultimate voting machine, reflecting prospects for earnings growth, stability, liquidity, inflation, taxation and predictable rule of law”.
There’s an implicit message to other strategists and chief executives: you don’t have to stay quiet – and you shouldn’t.
