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It might feel like it with all the headlines lately, but Blackstone Vice Chairman Byron Wien is here to assure you, this isn’t the apocalypse.
‘The market was vulnerable to a 5% to 10% correction at any given time. Maybe we’re getting it now. I don’t think it’s the end of the world. I think the virus will be brought under control.’
Investors could certainly use such calming words, considering the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.70% was off more than 1,000 points midway through Monday’s brutal trading session amid rising fears of the coronavirus outbreak.
“It’s not the beginning of a bear market. It’s a serious correction related to a fundamental development,” Wien told CNBC in an interview Monday morning. “The fundamental development will be corrected ultimately, and the market will resume its previous direction, which was positive.”
Earlier this year, Wien warned that the stock market would see several corrections of 5% or more throughout 2020, though he still issued a target of 3,500 for the S&P 500 SPX, -2.56% , which was down to 3,230 after midday.
Despite the market’s thrashing on Monday, Wien remains bullish: “The U.S. was doing very well in spite of the virus,” he said. “I think if the virus is brought under control the world economy will continue to expand.”
Watch the interview:
