EconoMonitor

Bull Market Duration and Strength

I was speaking with a friend who asked why 48%why not 100% cash

The short answer is that we are seeing some signs of a pullback, but not necessarily anything more ominous. Additionally, the 3rd year of a Presidency has lots of tailwinds in it for the markets.

But the longer answer is a bit more nuanced. Have a look at the chart and table below, from Jim Stack of Investech Research. The Bull Market Duration chart shows that in terms of overall rallies, the present run is not too long in the tooth. This present run is not yet two years old, about half of the average length of rallies over the past century. I read this as suggesting longer term investors can stay long(ish), so long as they have risk discipline in place:>

Bull-duration.png

My concerns are a bit more over the short term. The second table shows just how fast and far this market has run.

At 90% gains, this market has run further and faster than any previous rally. Indeed, in just 20 months it has far outpaced every other rally’s 24 month record by some 50%; the next closest gainer was 65.7% .  That does raise some cause for concern short term:

bull-market-gains.png

All charts and tables from Investech Research


Originally published at The Big Picture and reproduced here with permission.

Comments are closed.

Most Read | Featured | Popular

Blogger Spotlight

Thomas Grennes Thoughts From Across the Atlantic

Thomas Grennes is a professor of economics at the North Carolina State University and a former visiting faculty member at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. His research has dealt with various aspects of international economics, including open economy macroeconomics, international finance, and international trade in agricultural products. Recent research topics have included macroeconomic aspects of the Great Moderation, offshore outsourcing, sovereign wealth funds, and the relationship between government debt and economic growth. Earlier work dealt with emerging market issues in the Baltic countries and Russia and trade and macro policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Economic history topics include the Columbian Exchange of plants and animals, the effects on food markets of introducing mechanical refrigeration, and the integration of Tsarist Russia into the world grain market. When he is not involved in economics, he enjoys mountain hiking.

Economics Blog Aggregator

Our favorite economics blogs aggregated.