Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Fear not stock lovers

Yeah...I know. You are worried because the S&P 500 went from 666 to 956 in a couple of months and it is now back under 900. Is it time to take profits and go back into cash you ask? My answer there would be a resounding "no". To find out why I say that, just answer these two questions for me....

1) Is the US Economy going into another depression?
2) Are the leading economic indicators better today than 6 months ago?

The correct answers here are no and yes. It is very typical to see conflicting news stories in the very early stages of a bull market. Once the news/earnings are all good and the recovery is underway and everyone wants back in the stock market, the S&P will be over 1000 and by then you have missed the easy money. In the short term I think we will see a low between 810-860 on the S&P 500 (10-15% pullback from the recent highs) but I don't see a return to the doom-and-gloom of early March when all the "experts" on CNBC were talking about nationalizing the banks and the new depression. Funny how silly people can look only three months later.

The good news here is that if you have missed the recent upturn, you can get in now and still see some nice upside in the next 6-12 months. You have already missed the real easy money, but you will still be ahead of all the "experts" still sitting on their hands while the fundamentals of the economy stabilize and start improving later this year and into 2010. Even if you put the money in corporate bonds funds, it's better than sitting in cash or US government bond funds right now. Trust me...

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