STATE OF THE ECONOMY Q&A WITH STEPHEN JURY, J.P. MORGAN CHASE
Stephen Jury will serve as the keynote speaker for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber’s State of the Economy event on November 19. As Vice Chairman of J.P. Morgan Private Bank and a Markets and Global Commodity Strategist, Stephen brings more than 40 years of experience in financial markets and a deep understanding of global economic trends. Based in New York, he leads efforts to deliver J.P. Morgan’s comprehensive macro, market and investment perspectives to clients, with a particular focus on commodities such as energy, metals and agriculture. His extensive background—spanning leadership roles across major financial institutions including Chemical Bank, HSBC, UBS and Tradex Capital Markets—positions him as an insightful voice on global market dynamics. In this Q&A, we get an inside look into Stephen’s expertise and insights he will share as keynote speaker at State of the Economy. Here’s what he shared with us: Q: What do you enjoy most about translating complex economic trends into insights people can use? A: Helping someone who is maybe confused or seeking advice come to us or me, and get to the point where, first, they understand what it is that we're trying to tell them, and secondly, they then act upon that advice. Lastly, it turns out to be a positive exercise where they make money, and in some cases, like this year, a lot of money is on some of the advice that we've given them. That is very satisfying. Q: Is it difficult to navigate the ups and downs of the markets when offering advice? A: When I first came to this side of the business, there were a couple of occasions where we had given advice to clients, and it was heading in the wrong direction. I found that to be very stressful, but then I realized that people's patience and their longer-term ability to stay with the trend is sometimes greater than you might imagine. However, that's because when people start to lose money, they pretend those trades don't exist, and they go into denial. Then, over time, those trends, turn around; they become profitable again. I'd like not to think that's the case, but I tend to think in the back of my
mind that that might be a factor. Q: How does your international experience shape the way you view the U.S. economy and the opportunities ahead? A: I think it helps a lot, and the reason it helps is because I'm not trapped in a specific way of thinking. Americans especially have negative views on what's happening here. But if you travel extensively and you work in different places, you get a better world view, so, you can translate on a relatively different basis. I recently gave a presentation said to people there, you must understand that everything is relative. It's not just about what's happening in the U.S. Finance moves to an international, global marketplace, and that cash can move quickly. The big players are looking at everything on a relative basis. So, you don't want to fall in the trap of looking at just the U.S. or just the state that you live in, or the city that you live in. The world's a pretty place. Finance tends to ignore sentiment or negative sentiment from people who are naysayers, and by the fact that equity markets continue to go significantly higher this year in what would appear to be a very highly charged political environment. And so, having that international experience helps to view it in a more dispassionate lens. Q: You speak at many economic forums across the country. What excites you about visiting OKC and speaking to this audience? A: I live in a city that is very removed from life in Oklahoma. There are people here that think it's strange that somebody like me would go to a place like
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