Sunday, December 23, 2012

Stocks Up Again As Analysts Say 2013 Will Be Good

Associated PressAre they feeling bullish?

The leading indexes (SPY) (DIA) (IWN) closed up again Thursday,�the second straight day of (minor) gains for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and Russell 2000.

If you believe in technical analysis, the S&P in particular is heading for good things: at 1,415.95 it’s nearing its 50-day moving average of about 1,422. But even for more fundamental-investing types, there may be good news ahead.

As Alexandra Scaggs at WSJ MarketBeat wrote today, a couple of high-profile strategists have this week predicted good things for the S&P, with David Kostin, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, saying the index will hit 1,575 by the end of next year and David Bianco of Deutsche Bank calling for 1,500 — gains of 11% and 6%, respectively from today’s close.

The predictions land either side of what Scaggs says is the analyst consensus year-end 2013 prediction of 1,542, and both come with caveats. Goldman’s Kostin says the year’s uptick will be “highly uneven” while Bianco’s outlook rests on a budget deal — without one, the S&P could finish down at 1,200, he says.

Of course, predictions aren’t hard to find when it comes to the stock market and it was only last month, as Scaggs notes, that Kostin was saying the S&P would end 2012 at 1,250. So take it all (as usual) with a pinch of salt. What is a fact is that for all the doom and gloom, ups and downs and bearish talk, the S&P has having a pretty good 2012, up 12.6% at today’s close.

No comments:

Post a Comment