Jamie Dimon says market risks are 'bigger than people think'

Jamie Dimon says market risks are 'bigger than people think' — and Canadian investors should take note

Jamie Dimon isn't buying stocks right now. He wouldn't buy long-dated government bonds at today's prices either — and he thinks investors, generally, are underestimating just how much could go wrong.

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, one of the most closely watched voices in global finance, told CNBC in an extensive interview that growing geopolitical tension — including the U.S.-Iran conflict and the ongoing war in Ukraine — isn't fully reflected in today's stock prices. "I do think those risks are probably bigger than other people think," Dimon said.

It's a warning worth heeding, because the same complacency applies to Canadian investors.

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The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have each climbed between roughly 8% and 11% so far this year, and Dimon has acknowledged that any concerns about the wars as they currently stand may already be priced in. His fear, he says, is a trigger that hasn't happened yet.

Canadian investors are riding a strikingly similar wave. The S&P/TSX Composite Index traded at an all-time high above 35,000 points on June 22, and has since surpassed that benchmark, trading at 35,568 as of July 27 — just over 12% year-to-date.

Much like the U.S. benchmarks, that strength has been driven in part by heavy AI-related spending and, in the TSX's case, a substantial weighting toward gold and other materials producers.

Dimon isn't dismissing the reasons stocks have climbed. He compared today's AI spending to the buildout of internet companies decades ago, telling CNBC that the investment will likely "pay off, just like the internet did," even if it doesn't happen "on the timetable you expect."

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