Interactive Brokers Chairman Thomas Peterffy said Wednesday the stock market has a lot more to lose in the near term as the Federal Reserve struggles to tame inflation by rate hikes. “I am negative on the market because of the geopolitical situation and I don’t believe that the Fed will be able to raise rates as high as they need to in order to quiet the inflation,” Peterffy told CNBC’s Bob Pisani in an interview. “So I believe the Fed will top out at 4% and inflation will not come down below 5%.” The market veteran said the S & P 500 will fall another 15% from here as surging inflation puts a damper on corporate profit outlooks. “I feel that earnings will weaken and the P/E ratio will come down so I expect the market to come down about 15% from where it is today to the 3500, 3600 range,” Peterffy said. “Analysts are always late to take down earnings estimates.” The S & P 500 has fallen more than 13% this year, as the Fed’s aggressive tightening action stoked recession fears. The benchmark briefly dipped into bear market territory last month on an intraday basis. To tamp down inflation at a 40-year-high, the Fed has enacted two rate increases totaling 75 basis points, including a 50 basis point increase in May . A few Fed officials have floated the idea of implementing two more 50 basis point rate increases over the summer then taking a step back in September.
