It’s time to make money. The markets enter the New Year in a great mood.
Strategists are rocking 5,000-plus calls for year-end S&P 500 targets. What pandemic (said tongue-in-cheek)? Profit estimates by analysts remain on an uptrend as if to laugh at the real threats of stubborn inflation. Stock valuations are well above historical norms ahead of interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Just money chasing money at this point, right? The pipeline of IPOs and deals look strong, too — which could help to keep a bid under many companies.
Even history says 2022 will be another banner year for stocks.
Truist Advisory Services co-chief investment officer Keith Lerner found that going back to 1950, when the S&P 500 had a total return of at least 25% in a year, stocks usually rose in the following year. The outcome during that 71-year stretch: stocks advanced 82% of the time, or 14 out of 17 instances.
The average gain: 14%.
Not too shabby by any stretch of the imagination.