Cathie Wood from ARK Invest is out here, dropping truth bombs on the economy. In her latest YouTube rant—I mean, update—she’s predicting that the US is about to face the music and hit a recession this year. According to her, it’s all because the Federal Reserve went a bit overboard with those interest rate hikes.
Rolling Recession Drama
Wood claims that the US is already stuck in what she calls a “rolling recession.” You know, the kind where specific parts of the economy take turns going down the drain. For about two years now, things have been going south. Housing measures are down a whopping 40%, and new home sales are chilling at 2008-2009 crisis levels. Auto sales aren’t partying in their usual 17.5-18 million unit range; instead, they’re hanging out in the 15.5-16 million range, giving off those recession vibes. Commercial real estate is also in a tough spot. Wood thinks companies are losing their pricing power, and to survive, they’ll have to slash prices and watch their units fall apart.
Recession Lite, Coming Soon
According to Wood, when the recession knocks on our doors, it won’t be as intense as the 2008 financial crisis, but it’ll be enough to make the Fed switch gears to a low-interest-rate mode. She believes companies will start trimming the fat to salvage their margins, meaning layoffs are on the horizon. Unemployment, which has been hanging out at relatively low levels, is about to turn the corner, and Wood’s not thrilled about it. She’s throwing some shade at the Fed, claiming they overdid it with the interest rate hikes and that this whole recession thing wasn’t necessary. But hey, it’s happening.
The silver lining? Wood thinks this recession won’t be as brutal as the last one. Why? Because we’ve been dancing with this rolling recession for a while, and this is supposedly the grand finale. That, she says, will force the Fed to play the hero, surprising everyone with lower-than-expected interest rates in an election year. Now, isn’t that just peachy?
