Give reassurance? Goldman Sachs strategist: It is impossible for the U.S. stock market to peak!
Feb 28, 2024 .
- AdminFX168 Financial News (North America) News Scott Rubner, a strategist at Goldman Sachs Group, said that it has proven impossible to predict that the currently optimistic US stock market has peaked.
Rubner wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday (February 28) that retail traders were attracted to this round of gains, just as the economy is neither too hot nor too cold (Goldilocks) scenario. This prompted analysts to quickly raise their year-end targets. He said the stock market was "relatively saturated" in March and the rally was "weak" but there were no catalysts for a potential sell-off.
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(U.S. stocks test multiple tops, source: Bloomberg)
Aside from this week's minor moves, U.S. stocks have been rising since late last year. The record rally was driven by large tech stocks led by artificial intelligence pioneer Nvidia. Even before the company released its blockbuster earnings report, Rubner called Nvidia "the most important stock on the planet."
"I'm not betting on a 'YOLO return' in February," Rubner said, referring to his previous forecast of a poor second half of February for U.S. stocks based on seasonal patterns. YOLO, short for "you only live once," is used on some Reddit forums by retail traders when making high-risk bets on the stock market.
He continued: "I need to wake up every morning and see which stocks can rise 50% by Friday."
The rush led Goldman Sachs traders to note earlier this week that the data underscored the market's confidence in technology stocks. Put option skew, often used as a gauge of investor fear, has moved lower, with Nvidia’s retail trading activity sitting at a level of 99.96% for the week.
Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett also pointed out that stocks tend to test several tops before falling sharply. Conversely, rebounds from bottoms tend to be relatively quick "because human nature means 'fear' is easier to reverse than 'greed,'" Hartnett wrote in a report this month.
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