For those of you who believe Goldman sachs (GS) is controlling the world, this is as close to “in the bag” as it gets then, no?
July 20 (Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its forecast for the Standard & Poor 500 Index, saying improving earnings will spur the steepest second-half rally since 1982.
The benchmark index for U.S. stocks will advance 15 percent from its June 30 level to 1,060 on Dec. 31, an increase from David Kostin’s prior projection of 940. The chief U.S. investment strategist at New York-based Goldman Sachs also lifted his 2009 and 2010 earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies to $52 and $75 a share, which are 30 percent and 19 percent higher than prior estimates.
Profits that beat analysts’ forecasts at companies from New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Intel Corp. in Santa Clara, California, helped boost the S&P 500 by 7 percent last week, the biggest gain in four months. Since March 9, the gauge has rebounded 39 percent amid speculation the economy is recovering.
“Improvement in ex-financial earnings per share, stabilization in profit margins and higher forward EPS guidance all point to a rising market through 2009,” Kostin wrote in a report today.
Kostin is now tied with Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG’s Binky Chadha for the second-highest S&P 500 forecast among 10 Wall Street strategists tracked by Bloomberg News. Only JPMorgan’s Thomas Lee, at 1,100, is more bullish. Barclays Plc’s Barry Knapp, who had been the most pessimistic U.S. strategist, boosted his projection a week ago following the 40 percent surge in the S&P 500 between March and June, the biggest gain since the 1930s.
Surprising Strength
Knapp raised his year-end target 23 percent to 930, saying he’d failed to foresee the size of the advance since the S&P 500 fell to a 12-year low of 676.53 on March 9. His increase left Kevin Gardiner of HSBC Holdings Plc and Jason Todd of Morgan Stanley tied for the lowest S&P 500 projection at 900
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One reply on “Goldman Pedicts S&P Rally to Top 1982”
Hahaha, even I think this is a joke, and I'm relatively optimistic about things.