Courtesy of Random Roger
The WSJ had an article about SPX price targets from brokerage
Many investors like to hear SPX
The simple issue here is that these forecasts tend to be wrong, a lot. We’ve gone over some of the dynamics of the perma bulls, the threat they pose and some of the conflicts they may have in "needing" to be bullish so it is somewhat surprising that BofA got rid of someone who appeared to be too bullish.
Price targets notwithstanding, if you zoom out a little, the US is a destination where the sovereign debt was downgraded, there is a demographics problem, the government is not functional, growth is below trend with no visibility for improving, there is too much debt and there might be a serious problem (I think there is a serious problem) with liabilities to retirees and future retirees.
If this description were about another country you would quickly move to research another investment destination.
Anyone capable of being able to think in terms of several years at a time (or even a little longer) would be better served looking to longer term trends that have a reasonable basis for working in the future or continuing to work as they have in the past. Obviously not all previous winners can continue to work out well.
Consider the above issues with the US (and any others you care to add) and ask yourself what is the simplest outcome. My answer to that question is not a Schiffian (as in Peter Schiff) implosion but instead an ongoing muddle where average growth rates are well below what we think of as being normal and being far inferior to many other countries in the world.
Pic credit: Under Fire, Army Art Collection