USA TODAY International Edition
How will stocks end 2017? Here are 3 top predictions
“If you are looking ahead to next year, you need earnings to carry you because the economy is likely to be stronger and the Fed will be raising rates.”
Tobias Levkovich Citi Research
Wall Street bulls, often criticized for being market cheerleaders, weren’t bullish enough on stocks this year.
And that could be a bad thing for 401(k) investors who followed their advice and invested conservatively this year, or a good thing if they ignored the skepticism and were more aggressive.
So what are some of Wall Street’s top stock strategists saying about the market now? USA TODAY checked with three of them to get their predictions for the final eight weeks of the year.
Economies all clicking
❚ The strategist: John Stoltzfus
❚ The firm: Oppenheimer Asset Management
❚ The S&P 500 target: 2,650
❚ The call: There’s a “very good chance” that the market will climb enough to reach 2,650 in the coming weeks, Stoltzfus says. The S&P 500 will need to rise a bit more than 2% to get there.
That bullish call is built on expectations of continued economic strength and better business conditions, he says. He points to two straight quarters of U.S. GDP growth above 3%, healthy demand for purchases of long-lasting goods like refrigerators and dishwashers, rising quarterly profits for U.S. companies, and economies around the globe all gaining strength at the same time, which is key, he says, because we are in a “totally linked” world. Stocks could also get a lift from bears, or market skeptics, finally capitulating and buying stocks like everyone else. “That’s what does it,” says Stoltzfus, referring to the path he sees to 2,650.
He doesn’t see either the changing of the guard at the Federal Reserve, where Jerome Powell has been tabbed as chair, replacing Janet Yellen, or the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. tax code, as market “deal breakers” at this time.
Hinging on tax plan
❚ The strategist: Dubravko Lakos-Bujas
❚ The firm: J.P. Morgan
❚ The S&P 500 target: 2,550
❚ The call: The S&P 500’s next move could pivot on tax-reform success in Washington, says Lakos-Bujas. His current 2,550 price target, which is about 1.6% below the S&P 500’s current level, does not include expected earnings benefits U.S. companies would enjoy if their tax rate was reduced, he says.
Lakos-Bujas sees the market heading higher – perhaps as high as 2,700 – if the House Republicans’ proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate goes through. Even if that rate is reduced to 25%, it would translate into 150 points of additional gain for the S&P 500. That would put the index within striking distance of 2,700, a recent analysis by J.P. Morgan found. “It would provide an additional tailwind, especially for corporate earnings,” Lakos-Bujas says.
Lakos-Bujas says a continuation of improving global GDP is needed. It would offset any “headwinds” that might follow from the Federal Reserve and other global central bankers staying on their path of raising interest rates back to more normal levels following years of keeping them historically low since the financial crisis.
Chance of a pullback
❚ The strategist: Tobias Levkovich
❚ The firm: Citi Research
❚ The S&P 500 target: 2,475
❚ The call: While Levkovich may now have one of the lower S&P 500 price targets, his initial 2,425 call was the fourth-highest at the start of the year. He has no intention of boosting his target again this late in the year.
He won’t say stocks or market valuations won’t go higher. That’s because there’s still “excitement” over corporate tax cuts, improving corporate earnings and the possibility that investors who missed much of the rally could jump in and start buying. But he still believes the “market is a little ahead of itself” and that a “little bit of a pullback” may occur as the year winds down.
Still, to say Levkovich is bearish on stocks would be misleading. He has already slapped a 2,675 price target on the S&P 500 for 2018, which means he is betting on higher prices. His target for next year is more than 3% above current levels. He sees S&P 500 earnings growing 8% in 2018. That projection could rise depending on how big a tax cut corporations get from Congress. He’s also watching valuations, which he says are aboveaverage but not at the point of, “Oh, my god, run for the hills.”
The market, he says, will be driven by profits.