Where does the index end the year? Targets and earnings math, with the drawdown warnings that come attached.
The count, last 30 days: 29 bullish, 15 bearish. The tape leans bullish. A count, not a verdict.
The tape vs the talk
The line is S&P 500, last 90 days. Each dot is a claim as it landed on the tape: filled is bullish, outlined is bearish. Tap a dot to read it. Where the tape went after is context, not a verdict.
The tape
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Aug 17
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Sep 07
bullishbearishclaims filed per week
Where the numbers land
as of 2026-09-11 (updated with the morning fetch). Filled dots are claims on the record (tap one); outlined dots are model or scenario numbers. Not investment advice.
What the people who move markets are saying about this, in their own
words. These are views on the record, not scored bets: when a call here grows a number
and a deadline, it moves to the scoreboard. Newest first.
Bullish2026-09-10
Deepak Mehra says a 10-year yield above 5% will not trigger a real equity pullback because earnings growth is the strongest in five and a half years; equities are on their own trip.
I think the general belief is that if 10 year treasury yields goes beyond 5 percent we'll have a real pullback in equities. I don't believe that because there are counter factors which is essentially earnings growth which has been so robust.
Jack Caffrey tells the anchor that with ~28% earnings growth but only ~4-4.5% dividend growth, dividends barely keep pace with inflation and shareholders become reliant on credit markets.
But I do think when you look at a context of 28 percent earnings worth this year and a four percent dividend growth rate, four and a half percent growth in dividends, A, your dividends are barely keeping up with inflation.
McGlone tells Lin the S&P 500 versus GDP (Buffett indicator) is at its highest year-end reading since 1928 and something has to give.
you see the SMP 500 versus Warren Buffett's model versus GDP. It's the highest on a year and basis for 1928. So my point is something's going to give here.
McGlone tells Lin that over the long run a basket of stocks beats gold, but at today's valuations you do not want to buy the stock market.
In the long term, you're much better off holding a basket of S&P 500 or stocks than gold. The problem is now, you just don't wanna buy the stock market.
McGlone tells Lin that with market cap at 2.5 times GDP a 10% correction equals 25% of GDP, which is why a normal pullback would be severely deflationary.
And it's like, when you're 2.5 times GDP, that means if you correct 10%, that's 25% of the global, of the US economy, that's pretty severe.
Peter Schiff expects US stocks to fall in real (gold) terms while conceding they may not fall in nominal terms because of inflation.
I said US stocks are overpriced. I expect them to fall in real terms. I never really thought that they would go down in nominal terms because I've always believed there'd be a lot of inflation.
Peter Schiff would bet the S&P 500 is higher in nominal terms one year from now, choosing it over cash for the next 12 months despite his real-terms bear view.
The S&P, I would bet it would be higher in a year, nominally.
David Booth (Dimensional) tells Fox Business stocks return about 10% a year over the long haul and investors must stay invested through downturns to get it.
stocks over the long haul have done 10 percent a year. But you got to be there to be assured of getting it.
Stephanie Link (Hightower) tells CNBC earnings growth was broad (10 of 11 sectors grew, 7 double-digit), so investors should not fight the economic momentum.
10 out of 11 sectors saw growth last quarter, this past quarter, seven out of 11 saw double digit growth
Stephanie Link (Hightower) tells CNBC she stays fully invested and expects the market to grind higher into the end of 2026 on roughly 20% earnings growth.
And I think we grind higher into the end of the year because I think earnings may not grow at 50 percent, but they're still going to grow. I think 20.
Julian Emanuel of Evercore tells Bloomberg that despite caution into September, an all-rise phase for Mag7, software and semis will come before the cycle ends.
But we do think you will get all rise before this cycle is over.
Stephanie Guild (Robinhood) tells Guy Johnson the Situational Awareness blow-up was a leverage clearing event and, as after LTCM in 1998, US equities can move higher from here.
everyone exits the same door. And that's a clearing event. And I do think we're in that situation.
Stephanie Guild (Robinhood) tells Guy Johnson she agrees markets can rip higher: lingering skepticism and a lower S&P multiple leave room for the rally to continue.
Yeah I mean I agree with that. I still think there's a skepticism in the market and you can kind of see it when you look at like valuations.
Stephanie Guild (Robinhood) tells Guy Johnson that 2026 S&P earnings-growth expectations have doubled while the index multiple has dropped two turns, with 2027 estimates unchanged.
You know you've seen earnings growth expectations double for 2026. And I know we look a little further than that and 2027 hasn't really moved. But you've also seen with the doubling of earnings growth expectations valuations have actually dropped two turns for the S&P anyway.
Adam Farstrup (Schroders) tells CNBC stocks will drive higher, via continued earnings beats (estimates are rising, unusually for this point in the year) or multiple expansion.
So I think to see stocks drive higher, which we think is going to happen
Jurrien Timmer tells Bloomberg's Romaine Bostick that S&P 500 Q2 earnings growth rose from ~25% to 32% during the season and momentum is still very strong.
Started the quarter at about 25 percent or so. It's now at 32 percent. And the momentum is just incredibly strong.
Jurrien Timmer tells Bloomberg the S&P forward P/E is 20 cap-weighted and 18 equal-weighted, with 75% of stocks above their 200-day average.
the forward P on the S&P cap weighted index is 20. On the equal weighted index it's 18. 75 percent of the S&P 500 is in uptrends above their 200 day moving average.
Jurrien Timmer tells Bloomberg that, risks from 4.7% 10-yr yields and AI financing aside, the S&P 500 is a very strong earnings-driven momentum market for now.
There are some risk from rising interest rates in the 10 years at 470. And of course we can talk about risks in A.I. and how that's all being financed and all of that. But for now this is a very strong earnings driven momentum market.
Jurrien Timmer tells Bloomberg that S&P forward multiples are reasonable and trailing P/E in the low-to-mid 20s is not terrible, while conceding a bear would cite CAPE near 34.
So the forward multiples are very reasonable. Even the trailing 12 month numbers are in the low to mid 20. So that's not terrible.
Kim Forrest of Bokeh Capital tells Bloomberg the stock market does not care much about GDP and will keep rewarding the AI growth story despite a weak consumer.
The stock market doesn't necessarily really care about GDP all that much. It really doesn't. It's always looking for the next big idea and growth.
Ed Clissold (Ned Davis Research) tells CNBC that with the Fed less in play, the long end matters more, and a 10-year yield near 5% would be a real challenge for equities.
I think it does put the long end of the curve more in play. If we get about 5% of the 10-year, I think that could be a real challenge for the equity markets.
Ed Clissold (Ned Davis Research) tells CNBC the long-term AI play has further to run but capex-cost concerns could produce a broad equity-market pullback between now and the end of the third quarter of 2026.
you could see some pullback, which is why we think between now and the end of the third quarter, there could be a pullback in the broader equity market
The Bloomberg Markets Live managing editor ('Christina Kino' as transcribed) says the AI trade plus easing inflation and a holding job market make a Goldilocks backdrop that gives stocks another reason to rally.
the job market is holding on I mean that's basically a Goldilocks environment that stocks it's another reason for stocks to rally
Megan Horneman (Verdence Capital Advisors) tells the anchor that earnings growth expectations for the rest of 2026 and for 2027 price a perfect scenario and have a lot of room to come down.
I think that there is a lot of room that earnings expectations could come down. That's a big risk that we have here.
Clem Chambers says the S&P 500 chart is very bullish and he expects it to break out and rally as far again as it has in the recent liquidity-driven move; he is very long.
But to me, that is so bullish. I would expect that to break up and travel just as far as it has since over these last few days.
Dibo tells Lacqua S&P 500 Q2 earnings grew ~31% ex one-off equity gains with 85% of companies beating, i.e. the earnings story is broad-based.
But even if you take that out earnings too grew by 31 percent in Q2 and importantly it's being broad based because 85 percent of companies beat EPS estimates.
Tiffany McGhee (Pivotal Advisors) tells Bloomberg that strong corporate earnings leave US equities in a good place, despite inflation and the Middle East as potential sources of volatility.
overall, you know, corporate earnings are really high. You know, that's really supporting equity growth. So we're in a good place right now.
Tiffany McGhee (Pivotal Advisors) tells Bloomberg the S&P 500 still has more upside momentum and opportunities into September, while urging disciplined rebalancing of run-up names.
I definitely think that there's still some more momentum to gain. So I think that there's still opportunities.
David Lin (host) tells Thomas Hayes that the US Treasury's yen intervention amounts to indirect yield control and is extremely bullish for US equities.
the yen intervention that we saw a week and a half ago by Scott Besson in the Treasury, that can be interpreted as extremely bullish for equities
Thomas Hayes (Great Hill Capital) tells David Lin record equity issuance (Intel, Alphabet) will overwhelm demand and weigh on US equities over the next two to three months into the November election, after which he plans to buy aggressively.
at some point when you keep issuing equity, the supply overwhelms demand. And I think we're going to see the effects of that in the next couple of two, three months headed into the election.
Anita Krishna Gupta of Wealthbrix tells Bloomberg US stocks have ignored the Iran conflict except via oil, and the unpriced fiscal and spending cost of the war will come through.
so far the U.S. market has ignored the geopolitics except for the oil price. So they're not looking at the cost of the conflict yet. That hasn't seemed to be factored in into you know U.S. government budgets or the impact on spending. It will come through.
Julian Emanuel tells CNBC yields are approaching the level where they compete with corporate debt and make stocks hesitate, a period he thinks is at hand.
when yields get to a level where they're providing more competition for corporate debt, and it appears to be approaching that level, that causes the markets to hesitate. And we think that that's a period that we're approaching.
Julian Emanuel tells CNBC oil feeding into yields is a macro headwind for stocks into September seasonality and midterm-election volatility.
you get to a point when you think about the transmission mechanism of oil into yields, where it becomes a macro headwind for stocks approaching September, which tends to be a little bit more difficult, and approaching the midterms
Julian Emanuel tells CNBC his S&P 500 target is 7,750 base case with 9,000 possible under FOMO conditions by end-2027.
77.50 is the base case, but under the right circumstances and the right circumstances being, you know, extreme capital markets activity, FOMO like we've seen at the peak of every structural technology driven bull market, that you could move as high as 9,000.
Tony Pasquariello (Goldman Sachs) tells CNBC's Closing Bell the market foundation is solid: durable economy, superb earnings, favorable August flows and $1tn of AI capex.
I think the flow of funds is still very favorable particularly in the month of August and then we have a trillion dollars of AI CapEx working its way through the system
Brian Belski (BMO) tells CNBC's Halftime Report the S&P 500 rally continues because earnings revisions are the best he has seen and corporate leverage is down.
Yeah here because companies are efficient in their earnings growth in how they're valued how they're operating the business in terms of return on Equity or turn on capital and the debt to equity is down dramatically across most sectors So that's why I think this is going to continue
Jim Caron tells Bloomberg a 25bp Fed hike would be a bond-market event, not an equity-market event, and would not derail the nominal-growth-driven earnings lifting stocks.
If the Fed hikes rates 25 basis points in the midst of all this, is that gonna derail the higher nominal growth and higher earnings that equities are seeing? Not at all.
Carlyle posted its highest quarterly earnings in almost four years on PE exits; AUM $485B, record $97B dry powder; asked whether the exit 'dam' has broken.
So for us, it's more of the same. Capital markets are open. It's a good environment and we're finding great opportunities to exit and to invest.
Host notes public-market spreads widening, concentrated in tech, with the Fed not cutting and possibly hiking; Plouffe recalls the predicted default wave when rates first rose never materialized.
So I'd say it's bifurcated. If you look at our markets outside of software, spreads are actually relatively tight still. They're coming off of all-time tights, but I would characterize those capital markets as very open to do business, and new deals can get done very well. Software's a little bit different. It's more difficult to get deals done in the software space.
His comment sends stocks soaring at the open - Dow up 678 points to a fresh record led by Caterpillar (+11%) - while Trump warns Iran the talks are the last chance to end the war and U.S. crude trades below $78.
I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.
Asked if the 'frothy factor' and AI concern have played out; her skew-inversion monitor (count of S&P stocks with call vol outweighing put vol) fell from highs near 80 to about 50 after last week's 'situational awareness' shakeout.
So about average levels that tells you froth has been sucked out of the market. However, as we get past this earning season, August tends to be a volatility vacuum. And then we hit into midterms. I would expect some of that to reoccur.
Year-end S&P target 8,250 now fairly conservative (whisper garbles year-end as urine). Identity: title + the 8,250 target matching his registered house call. EVENT: will, dated year-end.
It's going higher. I mean, my year-end forecast is 8,250. And all of a sudden, that looks fairly conservative. It's only six and a half percent away.
Forward earnings above $400 by year-end; 400 x 20 = 8,000 with upside on both terms. EVENT: will, dated.
It's an all-time record high. I think it's going to hit over $400 a share by the end of the year, which will be the expectations for next year. Take 400 times 20, and you've got 8,000 pretty reasonable estimates. I think earnings are going to be somewhat better, and the valuation multiple may be higher. So I'm feeling pretty comfortable with that, yes.
2027 one of the best years; 2026 closes above 8000 per affirmed host recap. EVENT: will, dated.
Yes, yeah, I think because as we start to look at 2027, there's a lot of the clouds that are heading this year kind of lift. You know, the SpaceX unlock will be behind us, and the market testing of the new Fed will be behind us, so I think... And then, of course, there's already been a leverage unwind, so I think 2027 could be one of the best years for the stock market.
Pins the Korea crash on the ~45B-levered-to-150B unwind plus copycats.
I think it was a big factor, because as you know, Korea is basically two companies, Samsung and Heineck, so it's memory and semis. He, of course, had a very large following, so not only was his leverage on his $45 billion, let's say it was leveraged to $150 billion, but there was a lot of money piggybacking on his trade, so I think in some ways, you know, the unwind, and even last week was due to a lot of funds being aware that he might have been in trouble.
Coiled spring after the AI unwind; S&P ~7800 this month, confirmed 'Yeah, for the S&P'. EVENT: will, August 2026.
the stock market's kind of a coiled spring, and then we had a huge deleveraging, as you're talking about, because of the AI unwinding Korea's policymakers panicking. So I think the markets could actually rebound strongly this month. Like, maybe we get to $7,800.
War, energy and rates not enough to destabilize a market backed by the strongest earnings quarter in five years.
I just think the market is resilient. I mean look at the headwinds. It's shrugging off the Iran war energy costs and Now a little rise in interest rates or a medium rising interest rates But I don't think those headwinds are enough to destabilize the market
With Treasuries above 5 percent, IG credit at 5-7 percent beats equities risk-adjusted, pressuring stretched AI valuations.
I agree with Freiburg about the fact that when you can get 5%, 5.25% from the U.S. government, there's another natural thing that happens, which is that investment grade corporates actually have better credit ratings now than the government of America, which that's a different thing, but you can get really good risk adjusted returns that are 5%, 6%, 7%, which adjusted for taxes are, you know, better than equity returns, meaningfully better on a risk parity basis.
second-half outlook despite the Middle East conflict
“we're very constructive in equity markets. I think we just have to understand there's going to be a bit of choppiness going forward throughout the year”
tentative shift from high-beta winners to higher-quality stocks
“perhaps this is a turning point and maybe an inflection where this where where the market mood begins to swing somewhat towards a more defensive posture”
On the coming tech earnings run led by Alphabet. He sees a repeat of last quarter, when 'extraordinary profits from the hyperscalers' broke the market out of geopolitical and rate worries, and calls the recent semi weakness 'a little bit of consolidation and a little bit of churn' @54:34; adds 'we'll just sort of have to wait and see' @54:46.
“My bias is that those results will be solid and set these sort of trends higher once again.”
Asked how many basis points of yield would make bonds attractive again, with the 30-year at 5.13 percent and the 10-year near year highs. He notes 'levels above 5% on the US 10 year are things that we've highlighted in the past, create a certain feedback from the bond market to the equity' @32:07, but hedges: 'There's a lot of other drivers, it depends why they go above 5%, depends how fast' @32:25, recalling that in the tech bubble yields above 6 percent coexisted with fine equity markets. He also worries about 'another wave of inflation risk' if the Middle East conflict continues @28:11.
“So the closer you get to 5% and the higher above 5% you get, the more likely it is actually that equity struggle with that.”
Pushed on Jamie Dimon's caution, he answers that bank leaders 'think about risk through a different lens than long-term investors' @0:21. Despite Mag 7 down, software disruption and a semi pullback, 'the market is near all-time highs because we are seeing a broadening' @1:09; 'Almost 90 percent of companies are beating expectations' @1:36, though misses 'are likely to see a lot of downside' @1:49.
“Well, I think if you look, yes, there are pockets of froth, but we're seeing a very healthy broadening in this market.”
Given up only after the host needles 'You don't have a target?' @6:32; host jokes 'I wouldn't do that, but you just did it anyway' @6:43. Implies continued upside into year-end 2026 and mid-2027.
“We think that by the end of the year, our base case target is 7,800 and 8,200 for the middle of next year.”
Asked why he thinks the retail trading boom is sustainable (a Wall Street Journal headline that day cited him saying the stock trading boom is here to stay). He cites structural drivers: 'Gen Z is 45% more likely to invest by the age of 21 than the prior generation' @23:38, and zero commissions, which 'just took away the last barrier for investors' @23:49. Schwab reported a record 11.9 million daily average revenue trades in Q2.
“So I think it's all adding up to just more engagement. We've seen the highest level of stock ownership of stocks that we've seen in the last 20 years.”
Wrap-up question on the overall environment after Schwab's Q2. He adds 'But all in all, they're still bullish. They're buying on the dips. They're going into the AI stocks' @31:55, echoing his earlier data point that Schwab saw 'three and a half times more volume on down days in the market, which means that they're buying the dip' @22:33.
“I still think clients are bullish, but there is some caution and you do see them taking smaller positions than they normally would”
His long-running thesis: passive 401(k) flows are 'a continuous bid regardless of the underlying fundamentals' @0:34, hitting the largest stocks hardest and 'contributing to the concentration behavior we've seen in US equity markets' @2:12. Concludes the index 'is going to become more cyclical and lower quality and aggregate than it has historically been' @6:41.
“this is actually causing the equivalent of a perennial momentum bid into markets that has raised valuations dramatically.”
Cites S&P 500 up 10 percent YTD, Russell 1000 value beating growth, and 'Russell 2000, 20 percent returns' outperforming the S&P by 10 points @0:57. Says the Iran war should resolve into 'some sort of manageable relationship' with less oil volatility @1:46, and GDP 'continues to be strong above trend at two and a half percent' @1:57.
“we think that the market is giving us some interesting information here, which is that we'll see continued outperformance and strong GDP growth, which will help fuel earnings.”
Stockton says the Nasdaq 100 took out short-term support (50-day MA) last week and the 50-day is rolling over; the next real support is ~8-9% lower, and consolidations resolving downside bring volatility 'we're bracing for.'
“that does increase downside risk because the next support is pretty well below 8% or 9%.”
Stockton defines ~7340 (50-day MA plus her cloud model) as the S&P 500's equivalent support; a breakdown from its 'coiled' consolidation 'would probably be a drag on just about everything,' prompting top-down hedging of high-beta.
“We're putting that level right around 7340 for the S&P 500.”
Brent ~88-90 amid US-Iran war escalation, equities up Monday morning: 'The fundamental view in the marketplace is these escalations will be contained. And this was tested this weekend' (@2:32); the contrast of 'really messy news and relatively stable markets... You normally don't get that combination at all' (@2:56-3:04).
“So this is a fascinating time because everything is in equilibrium, but it's very unstable.”
Answering the host's point that about a third of S&P growth comes from Micron and Nvidia, he says market earnings expectations are vulnerable: 'the question is, is capacity going to overwhelm the demand for the market?' @5:45 and 'what happens after 2027?' @5:28. He owns Micron but has 'trimmed it back twice this year' @6:04.
“Yes, yes, it does. Because if you don't believe in those Micron earnings of $150, you're not going to get the kind of earnings growth the market is expected.”
About 50 companies had reported; he says banks 'reported fantastic numbers' and 'the consumer seems to be rather resilient' @0:57, with capital-markets activity helping. Host cites FactSet stats (88% beats, ~20% EPS growth): those are hers, not his.
“Now, looking to some of the other companies that are going to be reporting over the next several weeks, we're expecting a fairly strong earnings season.”
Rebutting a montage of investors touting the broadening-out theme. He calls AI-adjacent buying second order concentration: that's not diversification, it's second order concentration @44:32, and If the AI trade sneezes, we're not catching a cold, we're getting pneumonia @44:53. Ed supports with data: top 10 stocks are 40 percent of the S&P, over half of Russell 2000 returns from AI-related names, 75 percent of EM-ex-China returns from TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix.
“The market is not broadening. It's just finding new ways to buy Nvidia.”
Also: 'if you want to just go buy the S&P, I think you're going to get great returns in the S&P for at least the next couple of years as well.' @42:03. Cites 5-6% deficits ('the printing press is still happening'), a government that 'can't lose to China' on AI, hyperscalers' low debt-to-equity and ~$2T of contracted RPOs as reasons capex and earnings keep growing.
“I think between now and the end of the year at these levels, regardless of whether Micron sells off another 20%, I don't see how the memory trade, the earnings don't grow, and how the S&P doesn't go higher.”
'I actually believe that multiple compression story will become a much bigger story.' @45:03. Logic: if AGI arrives within ~3 years, commoditized intelligence lets AI-native competitors attack all public companies, so terminal values compress even as earnings grow: his answer to the 'we need a dot-com-style blowoff first' bulls.
“I think the market is going to go through multiple compression. So I think earnings are going to be great. I think the S&P is going to grow less than earnings like we've seen so far this year.”
'we still have plenty of wall to climb' @1:56; his proprietary sentiment-and-positioning index is 'still around neutral' vs the +1-2 standard-deviation froth threshold @2:31; 'about $8 trillion worth on the sidelines and that's ballooning' as dry powder @5:11. Notes the S&P 'is still trading around 7,500 and not too far off its all time highs' @3:29 despite the semi-momentum unwind he had cautioned on a month earlier; stellar bank earnings 'ratify my tech enablement thesis' with broadening leadership @3:46.
“we still have echoes and hints of structural fear, which means that there are incremental buyers on the sidelines waiting to power the next leg of this stock market rally.”
Window is pre-mega-cap earnings (Google Jul 22, Microsoft Jul 29, Meta ~Jul 29, Amazon Jul 30 as listed on tape): 'the nervousness for cash the dash for cash maybe or even the desire to take profits maybe so extreme that we could knock on the door of 675' @13:19. Hedged in real time: 'I'm not saying that's gonna be you know today who knows we could end up going green today.'
“we've been bleeding on the nasdaq 100 now where can we potentially go well unfortunately if this Iran drama keeps going my take is we could potentially head down to 675”
Iran's 'pickaxe mountain' enrichment site (Trump's comments moved up his 2-3-year worry) drove the downgrade, yet: 'longer term though still buying stocks' @21:03 and 'I expect to buy stocks and buy the different stocks between now and next week when earnings come out' @21:09. Reminds viewers he called the SpaceX-IPO '30% rise and then a bleed' which he says played out.
“I've actually reduced my level on the bull bear scale because of the pickaxe mountain comments”
From Carson's just-released mid-year outlook 'Still Riding the Wave.' Basis: 'This is the eighth longest bull market since World War II' @0:29; of the prior seven, 'only one of them didn't make it to their fourth birthday' @0:36; this one is about 3.5 years old vs an average length of about eight years. 'Carson Group, we've been pretty bullish for a while now' @0:23. This is the title claim.
“We're not saying it's gonna go eight years, but we are saying, we're saying for a while, this bull market might be younger than you think.”
Cites cooler US inflation, the Bank of Canada's sixth straight hold at 2.25%, and solid JPMorgan/Goldman earnings as interconnected supports. Tempered by: expect volatility this earnings season since 'expectations are high... 23% year-over-year growth... in the tech sector... 65%' @6:33.
“now today with Taiwan Semiconductor kicking off the earnings season with really strong expectations for the AI build out and that's underpinning the AI trade as well. So we're optimistic for the second half of this year.”
BlackRock earnings-day interview (record results on tape); margins +260bp over 12 months on technology; 'not that much leverage in this compared to 2008, 2009', crypto leverage already washed out
“I'm very bullish on the markets over the next 12 months.”
Notes almost all Mag 7 stocks fell 'close to at least 20% from their highs' yet 'the S&P is 1% away from a record high' because memory names subbed in (@2:58); adds Nvidia 'is now trading cheaper than the S&P 500 on a forward earnings basis' (@3:19).
“Well, we think a rotation is going to happen back into the Mag Seven, into large cap tech. And that's going to be the catalyst that takes the S&P to $8,000.”
'I do think earnings season is going to be healthy' (@16:33) and 'I don't think that we're slowing down this AI train anytime soon' (@17:09), but expects volatility 'through summer and maybe even into early fall' on the new Fed chairman and midterm rhetoric.
“So the market tends to peak before earnings peak. So earnings could continue to be very, very strong, even with a market that's moving sideways.”
On chips and mega caps he says 'it comes down to QQ earnings. That's really going to be the flash line in the dark tunnel' @2:16 (whisper garbles 'Q2' and 'flashlight'), calls the hyperscalers 'mostly in the penalty box' @2:33, and 'the demand storage still early' @2:44. 'Capbacks' is a whisper garble of capex.
“15 to one demand the supply. This AI revolution is still third inning, but the hyperscalers, those are the ones, the ones that are funding the AI party, funding the capbacks.”
Extended Squawk Pod version of the Jul 14 interview; mechanism: a competitor with a cheap barrel of intelligence can attack any incumbent, so markets stop paying for 20 years of cash flows; 'worth some multiple of the first five to seven years only' (@56:14)
“the multiples of free cash flow of all these public companies are going to come way in”
Her framing of what a real bear case requires; she does not expect the AI earnings crack
“if you really want to get bearish on the market, you have to get bearish on earnings. It's not just enough to be worried about valuation pressures. And you have to attack that AI earnings story.”
“You take technology or the big tech companies out of the earnings growth picture, and you're not even in double digit rates. That's hardly an earnings boom.”
“8,000 is doable this year… Because 8,000 would be roughly 20 times 2027 earnings of 400. I think that's a low estimate. I think the PE multiple could be 22 or better”; and: “between now and year end, there should be something that might feel like a bear market too. Not in July, but maybe between August and October”
“We upped our target a little bit to 81.50 [8,150]. Healthy, not heroic” (12-month-forward target); “on the high end, some of our models are signaling more than 8300 [8,300]”
“The cost of capital has now with long term rates moved back to what its long run average is, which is around eight to 11 percent. The problem is that half of large U.S. companies now cannot deliver returns that exceed that.”
“The high risk is the valuations are high. It has not mattered because earnings have been off the charts and the Fed has not been antagonistic” - H2: earnings exceed “nowhere near” H1's beat
Lee says 2027 S&P earnings consensus rose from $350 to $400 so the market got cheaper (PE 19.4 to 18.4) despite a 9% gain.
at the start of this year, 2027 S&P earnings consensus, and very similar to ours, was $350. And now it's currently $400. So it's risen by $50 and the PE on 2027 earnings was at 19.4 at the start of the year. It's now at 18.4
Lee says it makes sense to stay constructive on US stocks because earnings can revise higher on AI/energy infrastructure, onshoring and government spending.
I think it makes a lot of sense to be constructive here because I do think there's room for earnings to further revise higher for the U.S.
Lee says he is still constructive and advising clients to stay invested, but expects a big H2 drawdown from whatever peak the market reaches.
So we've been advising our clients to stay invested and we're still constructed because I think there's enough skepticism now. But even from that, whatever level we peek at, I think it's a big drawdown
Fundstrat raised S&P year-end target to 8,000 ($400 2027 earnings x 20 multiple) BUT expects a severe correction first; markets frontload negative shocks
Tom Lee · Fundstrat Global Advisors · Prof G Markets (yt kL3CAFG5MiI
S&P 500 since this was said: ▲ +1.4% · 7,483 → 7,592 · as of 2026-09-10
“We got a lot of upside to analysts' expectations. We think we're going to get a lot of upside this quarter, and absolutely 30% is possible… tech and the AI names are going to drive about 60%, maybe 65% of that earnings growth”
Asked if he loses sleep over seven companies dominating the S&P 500. He calls it 'the antithesis of what you're supposed to be getting' @20:25 and says index holders 'really don't have the diversification that they think they have and if they really want it They probably have to explore alternatives' @20:40.
“I don't think it's healthy. I don't think it's you know, I but there's been so much written about it”
Todd 'Bubba' Horwitz tells Kitco he is buying the main indexes (SPY, QQQ) right now and is always 100% long the market as an investor, hedged with derivatives.
Right now, I'm buying the main indexes to spy the cues. There are things that I would look to buy, but I'm buying those right now because I always want to be, I'm always 100% long the market from an investing standpoint.