BANK OF AMERICA: The bull market has plenty of 'gas in the tank'
- The S&P 500 could hit 3,000 by the end of 2018, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's technical team says.
- It says the chart for 2018 looks a lot like that of 2014, when the S&P gained 11%.
- Oppenheimer's John Stoltzfus also recently set his 2018 target for the S&P 500 at 3,000.
The S&P 500 has come a long way since the depths of the Great Recession. After bottoming at 666 in March 2009, the benchmark index has rallied 300% to a record high of 2,665. Much of those gains have come in 2017 as traders have begun to price in what Republicans say is the widest-ranging tax overhaul since 1986.
And Bank of America Merrill Lynch says the good times are likely to keep rolling for investors, as it expects the S&P 500's 2018 performance to be similar to that of 2014, when it gained about 11%.
In a note sent out to clients on Tuesday titled "Equity bull market still has gas in the tank," the bank's technical team, led by Stephen Suttmeier, says the S&P 500 could hit 3,000 by the end of next year. That would make for a gain of 12.7% from current levels.
"The up channel from February 2016 is almost two years old and suggests that the S&P 500 could achieve 2700 to 2800+ during 1H18," the team wrote. "Price action hugged the upper end of the channel from 2011 in 2014. If a similar event occurs in 2018, the channel from 2016 hits 3000 in December 2018."
The 3,000 level is on the radar of at least one other Wall Street analyst. Last week, Oppenheimer's John Stoltzfus set his 2018 year-end S&P 500 target at that level.
Zooming out to the bigger picture, and comparing to other secular bull markets, the bank says the index could hit 5,000 by 2024.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
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