American Express CEO Chenault: Growth may resume at end of 2010

Speaking on CNBC, American Express (AXP) CEO Ken Chenault said that he was seeing signs of a stabilization in business, but not of an economic recovery. He joins an increasing number of influential business leaders, including Warren Buffett, who have said that an economic rebound is still not in sight.

American Express' credit cards target higher-end, affluent customers who are normally persistent spenders. Chenault said that the current downturn is unusual in that it has hit the company's core demographic very hard. Billings handled by the company are down double-digits since last year, but the pace of decline has flattened out. "Stability in billings is encouraging, but I wouldn't characterize it as a recovery," Chenault said.