Stocks can bring out feats that have not been seen since the boom of the late 1990s
The stock market has been on a hot streak lately, hitting record highs after a record high, with some Wall Street bulls thinking the party hasn’t finished.
It shows a spectacular reversal from the panic that grabbed investors in April, when President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs shocked the world. Stocks, financial debt and dollars have crashed. The market began pricing for the recession, and analysts have cut forecasts significantly.
But Trump put his most aggressive tariff rate on hold, corporate revenues remained strong, consumers were resilient, stocks rebounded. flat Foreign investors jumped into the US market. Meanwhile, his administration negotiated a trade deal with the European Union on Sunday, which will remove the threat.
Now that the fog of war has been lifted, bright predictions from before the day of liberation have returned. So, stocks can once again raise big numbers, as if the tariff shocks a few months ago were all bad dreams.
On Monday, Oppenheimer’s chief investment strategist John Stolzfuss hiked this year’s S&P 500 price target from 5,950 to 7,100, reviving the outlook he first made in December 2024.
“This year reminds me of the classic Charles Dickens quote: “It was the best time, it was the worst,” he said. I said in his latest note. “There has been a lot of uncertainty and concern for a while, both trade policy and geopolitical events, but given the large number of potential outcomes, the cooler head has given priority, leading to positive results, at least for now.”
He cited progress in trade negotiations, strong corporate revenues, and clever handling of the Federal Reserve monetary policy.
If the S&P 500 hits 7,100 this year, it represents a profit of around 21% in 2025, marking its third consecutive year with a surge of over 20%. It has not occurred since the late 1990s, when the US economy and stock markets were booming.
Also on Monday Morgan Stanley Equity strategist Michael Wilson said the S&P 500 could reach 7,200 by mid-2026, explaining that he is beginning to approach a more optimistic “bull case” scenario.
He cited AI adoption for early 2026, weak dollars, Trump tax cuts, pent-up demand and expectations for Fed rate cuts in early 2026.
Another member of the 7,000 club is Chris Harvey. Wells Fargo Head of Equity Strategy for Securities I was trapped in a 7,007 S&P 500 prediction Even during the trade war.
Last week, he reaffirmed that and predicted that the big tech companies will continue to promote stock market rallies despite Trump’s trade policies.
“What we’re seeing is that the winners keep winning,” he said. I told Bloomberg. “Uber-CAP companies have high margins and are increasing market share. AI has a continuing true secular trend.”
And in the long run, the last decade will still look to be “roaring in your 20s,” according to market veteran Ed Yaldeni, president of Yaldeni Research.
On Monday, he supported the paper he first assumed in August 2020, as advances in productivity, waves of capital spending and endurance in consumer spending keeps stocked.
“If the rest of the decade continues to unfold as the roar of the 2020s, we expect the S&P 500 to start the next decade with the 10,000,” Yadeni wrote in a note.