After the markets rise 100% in only a few years cohen as usual thinks there is more market gains ahead and that there is no need to worry because the market is only headed higher....I guess with BUBBLE ben bernake ramping up the markets with trillions of dollars where else is the market going to go.... You Haven't Missed the Stock Rally: Goldman's Cohen Published: Friday, 1 Mar 2013 | 9:21 AM ET By: Matthew J. Belvedere Abby Joseph Cohen: 'This Rally is Real' Abby Joseph Cohen, Senior U.S. Investment Strategist at Goldman Sachs, discusses the strong fundamentals and valuations behind the markets' surge. The rally in the stock market is real and supported by the fundamentals, Goldman Sachs's Abby Joseph Cohen told CNBC on Friday. In a "Squawk Box" interview, Cohen said short-term concerns about the automatic spending cuts notwithstanding, her models peg fair value for the S&P 500 index at 1,575 â a 4 percent premium to Thursday's close. "There are other models, including the Fed model, that show fair value as high as 1,700 or 1,750." During Thursday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average came within 15 points of its all-time closing high of 14,164 before finishing lower. "[The rally] is supported by improving fundamentals in the U.S. economy and, very importantly, valuation," the senior U.S. investment strategist said. "[With] equities at a (price-to-earnings) ratio at 14 times earnings, they're just not expensive." Cohen added: "Our sense is that there is a lot of cash on the sidelines." She advised that investors may do well to put that money to work in stocks â or to shift out of longer-term bonds into stocks, which she describes as the "better investment." Why? Cohen expects the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low for a long time. She did note, however, that if interest rates rose in a "dramatic and sudden" fashion, stocks could get hurt. But even in a rising interest rate environment, equity bull markets historically retain some strength for a while, as the market responds to an improving economy, Cohen said.
Even buffet says buy stocks at all time highs....this is certainly a risk free market if I have ever seen one. Let the fun begin. Buffett Still Buying Stocks, Sees 'Good Value' Published: Monday, 4 Mar 2013 | 6:00 AM ET By: Alex Crippen Executive Producer Warren Buffett still sees "good value" in stocks, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaches an all-time high. On CNBC's Squawk Box, Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway is still buying stocks, even though prices have increased. "Anything I bought at $80 I don't like as well at $100. But if you're asking me if stocks are cheaper than other forms of investment, in my view the answer is yes. We're buying stocks now. But not because we expect them to go up. We're buying them because we think we're getting good value for them." He said stocks are not "as cheap as they were four years ago" but "you get more for your money" compared to other investments. He added, "The dumbest investment, in my view, is a long-term government bond." Buffett revealed that a potential acquisition had been "mentioned" to him and he will be exploring the idea, no deal is imminent. "That's always a low probability. Whether it's a five percent or ten percent, who knows? But I get excited when I hear about possibilities." Asked what sector the company is in, he replied with a laugh that it is "in business." Buffett praised Berkshire's new portfolio managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, and announced publicly for the first time that they'll soon be getting an additional $1 billion to work with. He joked they are making his decisions "look bad" by comparison. The new money will increase the size of their portfolios to $6 billion from $5 billion. Buffett said it's "quite unlikely" he'll hire another portfolio manager, in part because he's so happy with Combs and Weschler. "We hit the jackpot with these two." Buffett isn't too worried that the automatic government spending cuts known as the sequester will slow down the U.S. economy too much. "We're continuing to see a slow recovery," he said. "It hasn't taken off, but it hasn't stopped either." Buffett said that while the sequester will reduce the government's stimulus of the economy by cutting back on the deficit the remaining spending is still providing the economy a lot of "juice." "(The economy's) not galloping at all, but we are making progress bit by bit. Everybody would love to see it faster. But it's not going into reverse and I do not think the sequester will cause it to go into reverse." "It's not galloping at all, but we are making progress bit by bit. Everybody would love to see it faster. But it's not going into reverse and I do not think the sequester will cause it to go into reverse." Buffett said the sequester could go on "for quite a while." He thinks, however, that once the American people see the results of its "meat ax" approach, there will be an opportunity to make more considered spending cuts. Buffett remains confident, however, that Washington's red ink will be reduced. "We're going to bring down spending. We're going to bring up revenues. We may get there in fits and starts. And everybody may scream each time we do it. But the deficit is going to come down. It needs to come down." Warren Buffett Calls Berkshire's 2012 'Subpar' "Our job is to beat the S&P, explained Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman & CEO talking with CNBC's Becky Quick about why he is disappointed with the performance of his company last year. Buffett also answers a viewer's question about his purchase of Heinz; and reveals why the sequester is likely to go on for a while. Buffett has "enormous respect" for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, but thinks it will be interesting to see what happens when the Fed begins to unwind its efforts to keep interest rates very low. He said that rates near zero have pushed stocks higher than they would have gone otherwise and the global markets are on a "hair trigger," looking for any sign the central bank may start raising rates. "I think the Fed will try to give little signals here and all of that. But in the end, there are an awful lot of people who want to get out of a lot of assets if they think the Fed is going to tighten a lot." The results of higher rates, he said, "will be very noticeable" in the markets. While stocks will be hurt by higher rates, Buffett said other investments will also be affected and he still thinks equities are the best thing to buy now.
Dow 15,000 here we come? Will the Dow Hit 15,000 This Year? Published: Tuesday, 5 Mar 2013 | 12:17 PM ET Stocks held near session highs Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shooting up to its highest level ever, following an upbeat ISM non-manufacturing index and amid ongoing monetary support from the Federal Reserve. So far, the Dow is up nearly 9 percent in 2013, surpassing the 7.3 percent gain for all of 2012. The Dow soared nearly 150 points, spiking above its all-time high of 14,198.10 hit on October 9, 2007. United Technologies and Bank of America led the blue-chip gainers on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Transportation Average also touched a record high. Since the Dow's last all-time high in 2007, Home Depot and IBM have been the biggest gainers, while Alcoa and Bank of America have been the worst performers since 2007. Will the Dow Hit 15,000 This Year? Yes55% No 36% Not Sure 9% Total Votes: 2100 Not a Scientific Survey. Results may not total 100% due to rounding. That said, we want to hear from you â will the Dow hit 15,000 this year?