• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire

2

The U.S. campaigned to host the World Cup. Now soccer fans will trade their countries' train system for the U.S.'s 'D' rated infrastructure

3

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

1

The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire

2

The U.S. campaigned to host the World Cup. Now soccer fans will trade their countries' train system for the U.S.'s 'D' rated infrastructure

3

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
Financecarl icahn

Don’t be fooled—Thursday’s rally doesn’t mean we are out of a bear market, billionaire investor Carl Icahn warns

Sophie Mellor
By
Sophie Mellor
Sophie Mellor
Down Arrow Button Icon
Sophie Mellor
By
Sophie Mellor
Sophie Mellor
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 11, 2022, 7:59 AM ET
Carl Icahn
Carl Icahn, chairman of Icahn Enterprises.Heidi Gutman—CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images

Even after the best day the stock market has seen in two years, famed investor Carl Icahn still isn’t changing his pessimistic outlook on the economy.

Icahn reiterated warnings that the U.S. is in a recession and that he is keeping his portfolio at Icahn Enterprises hedged, the billionaire said on CNBC’s Closing Bell Overtime show on Thursday. Icahn argues Thursday’s swings in the market were made by a small percentage of investors and are not indicative of the broader market sentiment.

“I am still very, quite bearish on what is going to happen. A rally like this is of course very dramatic, to say the least…but I still think we are in a bear market,” Icahn said.

After a Thursday report showed that inflation in the U.S. eased last month by more than expected, everything from metals to European stocks soared in price. The S&P 500 surged 5.5% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1,200 points. Even the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, down 30% year to date, packed in what could be a year’s worth of gains by jumping 7.4% in a single day.

While the inflation report led some people to believe that the worst of high inflation has finally passed, other investors, including Icahn, have warned that it is premature to declare that with any certainty.

“I don’t think inflation is going away…not for the near term. I think you’re going to have more of a recession, more of an earnings decrease,” Icahn stated.

Icahn, who boasts a net worth of $24 billion, believes high interest rates and an inverted yield curve on treasury bonds make a recession inevitable. “I do think it’s certainly dramatic and maybe exciting,” Icahn said referring to the momentous Thursday rally, “but I don’t really think it changes my opinion on the basic problems that we have.”

Why the big pop?

Icahn believes that only a limited number of traders were behind Thursday’s rally. “If you take the population of stockholders, there’s only a small percentage that trade like this,” Icahn said. In times of market downturn, he added, short interest builds up and when there is any positive news, like Thursday’s inflation report, a small number of investors can suddenly propel prices upwards.

But as inflation continues to ravage markets and make households poorer, a short day of gains won’t change the trajectory of the economy.

One main driver behind inflation is caused by the young people who “don’t want to work,” Icahn says. As more and more of “the youth” turn their back on the job market, there will be more wage inflation as the older generation has to retire.

Icahn has been a doomsayer of the economy since inflation first started rising last year. Icahn warned back in March that a recession or “even worse” was likely on the way for the U.S. economy, comparing today’s high inflation to that of the 1970s when the Fed struggled to control rising consumer prices. More recently, he told Marketwatch at the Best New Ideas in Money Festival in September that “the worst is yet to come.”

“I think the Fed did what they had to do,” Icahn said on CNBC this Thursday. “I think they came late to the game to raise interest rates. But I don’t think the inflation is over… I lived through the ’70s. It took years and years and years to get it over with. You can’t wave a magic wand to get inflation over with.”

The consumer price index increased 0.4% for the month of October and 7.7% from a year ago, down from a 8.2% year-over-year rise in September. The year-over-year drop was the fourth straight decrease since inflation hit a peak of 9.1% in June.

When will inflation start easing?

Some analysts believe this lower-than-expected inflation report is the start of defusing inflation. “This is not some kind of outlier,” Omair Sharif of Inflation Insights wrote in an investor note seen by Reuters. “This is the start…of lower prints.”

Other analysts argue that more inflation data is needed to better assess the path the economy is heading in. “Systematic strategies were set up completely wrong for this CPI print today,” said Mike Lewis, head of U.S. equity cash trading at Barclays.

Like Icahn, Lewis notes that he did not see any real money—a term for mutual funds, pension funds, and other non-leveraged market investors—buying up stocks in Thursday’s rally. Lewis argues the rally is unlikely to last until “we get more data like this CPI print, and with similar velocity.”

Similarly, Tallbacken Capital Advisors chief executive Michael Purves agreed that risk assets are not out of the woods yet.

“I am not being very bearish. I just don’t know whether this means you should start buying every dip you get,” Purves said. “We need a lot more confirming evidence.”

But bullish analysts are mostly hoping that Thursday’s inflation reading will give the U.S. central bank good reason to go with a smaller hike in the next coming Federal Open Market Committee.

Sign up for the Fortune Features email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.
About the Author
Sophie Mellor
By Sophie Mellor
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Markets rejoice as deal to reopen Hormuz nears, but U.S. forces conduct ‘self-defense strikes’ on Iranian missile sites and boats laying mines
EnergyIran
Markets rejoice as deal to reopen Hormuz nears, but U.S. forces conduct ‘self-defense strikes’ on Iranian missile sites and boats laying mines
By Jason MaMay 25, 2026
5 hours ago
Current refi mortgage rates report for May 25, 2026
Personal FinanceReal Estate
Current refi mortgage rates report for May 25, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganMay 25, 2026
11 hours ago
g
PoliticsElections
Democrats want to run on corruption. Their own stock trades keep getting in the way
By Matt Brown and The Associated PressMay 25, 2026
14 hours ago
g
North Americawater use and conservation
America’s largest oil export hub is so starved of water that it’s been illegal to have a green lawn for 2 years
By Michelle Hummel and The ConversationMay 25, 2026
14 hours ago
g
EnvironmentLaw
You can’t repair your tractor because Hollywood was terrified of the VCR
By Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy and The ConversationMay 25, 2026
15 hours ago
r
Environmentclimate change
Rice feeds more than half the world. It’s also the climate equivalent of 239 million cars
By Hanqin Tian, Jingting Zhang, Pep Canadell, Shufen (Susan) Pan and The ConversationMay 25, 2026
15 hours ago

Most Popular

The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire
Economy
The pig in the python: Baby Boomers are strangling the economy they built by refusing to move or retire
By Nick LichtenbergMay 25, 2026
22 hours ago
The U.S. campaigned to host the World Cup. Now soccer fans will trade their countries' train system for the U.S.'s 'D' rated infrastructure
Travel & Leisure
The U.S. campaigned to host the World Cup. Now soccer fans will trade their countries' train system for the U.S.'s 'D' rated infrastructure
By Catherina GioinoMay 25, 2026
19 hours ago
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
Success
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
By Preston ForeMay 21, 2026
5 days ago
Elon Musk's best friend could make more than $100 billion from SpaceX's IPO. His firm is also owed billions by SpaceX
Investing
Elon Musk's best friend could make more than $100 billion from SpaceX's IPO. His firm is also owed billions by SpaceX
By Eva RoytburgMay 25, 2026
18 hours ago
A billionaire and an A-list actor found refuge in a 37-home Florida neighborhood with armed guards—proof that privacy is now the ultimate luxury
Real Estate
A billionaire and an A-list actor found refuge in a 37-home Florida neighborhood with armed guards—proof that privacy is now the ultimate luxury
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezMay 25, 2026
18 hours ago
Uber CEO says rideshare 'freed up' his son from having to get a driver’s license—and he's one of many Gen Zers who aren’t willing to drive
Lifestyle
Uber CEO says rideshare 'freed up' his son from having to get a driver’s license—and he's one of many Gen Zers who aren’t willing to drive
By Sasha RogelbergMay 24, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.