Q1 2013’s Great Performance Inspires Warnings From Financial Press; Where Are The Bulls?
To be sure, it was a record-smashing quarter. “Stocks closed out the first quarter on a high note with the S&P 500 piercing through levels last seen in 2007 to end at a record high near 1,570 and the Dow logging its strongest quarter in 15 years,” CNBC reported, in the only story I could find that did not advise caution and simply reported the quarterly numbers without prognostication.
All of the other sites I read that reported on the outstanding quarterly results carried warnings of a looming correction. For example, MarketWatch’s subheadline on its coverage: “After a month of teasing investors, the S&P 500 closed at a new record high on Thursday. Time to take the money and run?”
The LA Times, in its coverage, similarly asked “how long might the rally last? Some market experts caution the rally may slow in the next three months, and stocks could fall 5% to 10%, they say.”
Even Reuters, which is relied on for reporting hard news straight, was skeptical with its headline, “Wall Street Week Ahead: Pullback possible after S&P's milestone.”
None of the major news outlets I found pointed out the possibility that this rally might actually be the beginning of a new secular bull market. Maybe it’s a bullish sign that sentiment is so negative in the consumer press, but none of the major new outlets suggested that the market could be on the verge of a new bull leg.
(Shameless plug: Economist Fritz Meyer recently made the case that stock investors could experience the benefits of earnings-multiple expansion propelling a new secular bull market, which Advisor Products explored in a story for advisor clients in newsletters and websites. Fritz Meyer’s next webinar is coming up next week and you can register for it now. )