Mike Mayo Smacks JPM with a Big Downgrade

Mike Mayo of CLSA downgraded JPM by not one, but two notches, to underperform from outperform. That’s quite a statement considering JPM is typically viewed as the strongest bank among its peers with CEO Jamie Dimon at the helm.
It’s not that Mayo thinks JPM is in shambles. In fact he calls it “best in class” but believes bank’s units would be more valuable if broken up. He writes, “Investors have a choice to own some of the parts but not all of them, and we prefer to mix and match a little more aggressively and stay more nimble given the evolving financial and political landscape.”
Mayo also cites increased macro uncertainty as another reason for the downgrade today. He writes in today’s note:  "We are downgrading JPMorgan Chase from Outperform to Underperform given increased macro uncertainty in the USA and macro/political uncertainty in Europe, estimates that are well below peer due to likely lower-than-average revenue for both markets and spread revenue, and a view that 1Q12 earnings are the best for some time."

Thanks to BDI  ,from Slopeofhope for alerting me to this