Jamie Dimon knows when to buy JPMorgan shares, and he’s “reluctant” to do so right now

When JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon talks about the outlook for interest rates, or the US economy, I generally don’t listen.

When he talks about his own stock? Well, then I’m rapt with attention.

In an interview with CNBC this afternoon, Dimon said the following after being asked about uses for the firm’s ample excess capital:

“But stock buyback, to me, is — you should buy back the stock when you think it’s cheap. And so we have been very reluctant to buy back stock at these prices. And we will have opportunities. But one day, we will deploy that capital in a way that’s very good for our shareholders.”

Those words speak volumes, and Dimon’s past actions regarding JPMorgan shares speak even more loudly. Back in February 2016, when the S&P 500 had fallen 14% amid fears of a hard landing in China and the potential for souring loans, particularly in the beaten-down commodities space, Dimon spent more than $25 million of his own money to make a big purchase of company stock.

That buy marked, to the day, the market bottom. And Dimon’s faith in the preeminent US financial firm may not just have coincided with that trough, but also, given his stature, helped catalyze the renewed market rally.

JPMorgan has been the worst performer in the KBW Bank Index since February 13, the day when leaked audio showed Dimon delivering an impassioned indictment of work-from-home policies. The company is also the second-largest weight in the iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF, which has gotten crushed in the last three sessions following the underwhelming outlook issued by Walmart, another large component in that ETF.

Shares were little changed on Dimon’s remarks, remaining down about 1% on the day.