There’s a 90% chance the United States will enter a recession this year - DoubleLine Capital CEO

CNBC reports that DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said that there's a 90% chance the United States will enter a recession before the year is over.

Gundlach said that last week his odds stood at 80%, but that as the coronavirus outbreak continues to halt travel and shutter businesses worldwide, he now places the odds at 90%.

"When you decimate the restaurant industry, the travel industry, the hotel industry, the airline industry .. the cruise line industry, obviously you're going to take a huge divot out of economic activity," he said Tuesday during a webcast with investors.

Gundlach also took aim at Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin who on Sunday said he was confident that the economy would weather the downturn from the coronavirus outbreak without entering a recession.

"Obviously we're going to have a very substantial negative quarter," Gundlach said. "I just couldn't believe ... that Secretary Mnuchin actually said he wasn't sure we're going to a recession as a result of this, we might actually avoid a recession. That just seems so ludicrous," he said.

Still, Gundlach added later that he was incrementally less negative on the market's outlook given the magnitude of the federal government's response.