Wall Street Expert Warns Recession With Unprecedented Consequences Will Hit Next Year

Just the cost of going to the grocery store is nearly enough to break the bank these days, and experts have warned that things are about to get a lot worse. Wall Street expert Harley Bassman has predicted that the US economy headed for disaster as the country will almost certainly enter a recession next year.

Americans all over the country would be impacted by a recession, no matter their wealth or economic status. A recession creates long-term financial strain and is something that all Americans prefer to avoid. Unfortunately, Bassman is convinced that a recession will hit the US next year.

The financial expert anticipates that both the stock and real estate markets will take the biggest hit as prices drop to staggeringly low rates. Bassman also estimates that unemployment and mortgage defaults will rise within the next year.

He likened inflation to being poisoned by carbon monoxide, as the crippling cost of living continues to soar in the United States. Bassman considers himself an expert in his field, admitting that he learned the hard way after failing to listen to warnings about the mid-2000s housing bubble. During the episode, Bassman delivered several insightful forecasts for the near future.

Inflation “decreases the purchasing power of money,” meaning that you can get a lot less for your dollar than ever before. “Inflation is nothing more than a slow-motion default,” said Bassman. “It’s a nice tax, nice in the sense that it’s quiet and silent. It’s kind of like CO2 poisoning in your house. You can’t feel it and it goes across everybody.”

Trying to purchase a house has become virtually impossible, as there’s a strong demand for property but no supply of available housing. According to Bassman, “Housing is not going to go down because there’s no sellers. Everyone is locked into their house.” He went on to suggest people are virtually stuck living where they are with little hope of ever moving in today’s market.

“This is some weird form of rent control where you can’t move unless your house burns down, because you can’t refinance at 7%,” he said. “You already have a 3% mortgage. So that’s why prices aren’t going down.” Bassman offered a bleak way for the housing market to come back to form, admitting, “Until people lose their job, lose their income, they’re going to stay in their houses.”

“The Fed’s going to keep tightening until they get that unemployment rate up, or at least they’re not going to lower rates until then,” he said. He believes that this will result in “the housing down” and “the stock market down.” Bassman expects many Americans to default on their mortgages and they will be left with no money to put into their retirement accounts.

“The Fed has told us, ‘Inflation we don’t like, we’re going to slam on these brakes until something breaks,’ which is the economy,” he said. “When that happens, bad things will happen to credit. There will be defaults, by definition. That’s how it plays out.”

He also insisted that lenders will have no choice but to refinance loans at significantly higher interest rates in 2024. “We’re going to get the inflation down, but it’s still a year away because we have not gone into that maturity wall yet. So, I predict that’s going to happen not until sometime, at best, mid-next year,” he predicted.

“I used to be on a finance committee for one of our kids’ schools. There was this guy, kind of a crazy guy, named Steve Eisman,” he said. When Eisman asked if Bassman worked at Merrill Lynch he offered some advice. Eisman told him, “Sell everything. You’re going bankrupt.” Bassman brushed aside his comments, admitting, “That was a mistake.”

“You’re welcome to be against immigration. You’re welcome to go and lock the door and have nobody come in,” he said. “But let’s be clear, if you slam the door, you will get inflation and you will have slower GDP (gross domestic product) because you have fewer workers.