Ex-Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein says he’s fully invested in stocks as he sees the current setup as one of the most powerful market moments he has ever witnessed.
In a new Squawk Box interview, the former Goldman Sachs chief points to a convergence of monetary policy and technology as the drivers of the next leg higher.
Blankfein, who ran the Wall Street bank through the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, explains that rate cuts combined with investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence are creating what he views as a unique alignment of tailwinds.
“I have all these bearish thoughts, but I’m 100% in equities. Personally, right now, yeah, because we’re about to lower interest rates into a bull market…
People can’t spell AI, but will buy anything that’s associated with it. People think it’s an epic moment.”
He adds that the AI wave could be transformative, but warns that similar episodes akin to market bubbles in past decades have reshaped markets in ways few expected.
“I think it’s a phenomenal moment. It might be. I’m not a great technologist. And I’ve lived through waves of technology. And I experienced things that changed the world. I experienced things that changed our fortunes because we over-invested in stuff.”
Despite his concerns related to past tech bubbles, Blankfein says big tech is positioned to capture the upside fueled by the AI wave.
“And it happens to conform to my view of the market, because I think the most exciting companies, the fastest growing, usually size is the enemy of growth.
But here you have the biggest companies that are positioned to take advantage of the new technologies, because they can afford to, actually have been the best, kind of the best ones to go in.”