Why the S&P 500 will be much higher in 5 years?

I would not be surprised if a retreat/selloff develops soon.

Are there major issues that would serve to explain/trigger it?

 

without reading this whole thing i can explain why SP will be higher regardless..cause everything is tied up to it. specially pension plans and whole entire "finance and investing" industry is based on assumption of 7%-8% avg. return. and they ALL(WS,DC) will do everything to keep the numbers up.cause if you f** with general public-they will f** up you up..and since we have baby boomers on their way out and they are the majority in investing-you certainly don't want mess them up. and this is why it will be much higher in next 5 years..unless there is some sort of epic s** happens..like super volcano or something that big..KISS.

 

The fundamental issue that has led the global markets up is the activity of the Fed.

 

Can the Fed continue indefinitely to pursue a given course of action regardless of other global factors that might work against it?
Will the market always view the Fed's action as more important/significant than other globals factors/market forces that might work in an opposite direction?
Will the future always be like the past?

 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1104361-the-market-s-grand-illusion?source=yahoo

Date......................... Event....................................Market Gain

June 6 2012................ECB meeting...................................1.23%

July 25-26..................Draghi's "whatever it takes"...............3.64%

September 6...............Draghi's "unlimited" bond threat..........2.11%

September 13-14.........FOMC meeting and QE-infinity............2.03%

December 31st............Senate passes cliff extension.............1.69%


that's all the gains.

 

"the market can act irrational a lot longer than you can stay solvent."

 

About the risk:

The risk varies according to the leverage of the ETF used.

SPY is not leveraged. Is designed to have the gain or loss as the S&P 500.
SSO is 2x leveraged. Is designed to have twice the gain or loss as the S&P 500 index.
UPRO is 3x leveraged. Is designed to have thrice the gain or loss as the S&P 500 index

 

Certainly true!

 

I also agree. This helps explain why it is so difficult to explain market movements.

 

And recognizing a given market behaviour as irrational is not good reason to trade against the market; at best, it's just a good reason to be more cautious and to recognize that the next time might be different ...