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Stocks Poised For Record Gains On Record Growth And Stimulus

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With the economy set for historic growth this year, and stocks poised to soar, this is one of those times in the market that people will look back on either with great excitement for taking full advantage of it, or with utter regret for missing out on an opportunity of a lifetime.

Stocks got off to a strong start this year, then pulled back a bit in mid-February thru early March.

Panic set in for some investors as they braced for more downside. Some sold. Others shorted. And some refused to buy this market for fear of it going lower.

But then it didn’t.

And since then, all of the major indexes have made new all-time highs, and look ready to do it again.

If you missed out on this latest rally due to disbelief, or fear, it’s not too late.

Because it looks like there’s a lot more upside to go.

Fear Not

There was nothing ominous in the pullback we saw earlier in the year. It was just your normal, ordinary pullback.

Nor was there anything ominous in the modest pullback we saw just last week. Not every week can be an up week.

These are just normal ebbs and flows.

In fact, stocks usually pull back about -5% roughly 3-4 times per year. (A pullback is defined as a decline between -5% and -9.99%.)

And stocks usually correct -10% on average of about once a year. (A decline of -10% to -19.99% is called a correction.)

Every bull market has them.

These are the pauses that refresh before the next leg up.

While they’re never fun when they’re happening, if you know these are commonplace moves, you can instead look at them as opportunities to buy rather than places to sell.

New Highs Beget Higher Highs 

So why have so many people been so afraid of a pullback?

Is it because the market has performed so spectacularly over the past year?

More than likely, that’s the case.

For some reason, people seem reluctant to buy stocks after making new highs. I suppose they may feel like they missed the move, or that now stocks have more room to fall.

But statistically, this is just not true.

Studies have shown that stocks making new highs have a tendency of making even higher highs.

In fact, using S&P price data going all the way back to the 1950’s, it shows that stocks typically go up in the subsequent six months following new all-time highs.

This means that stocks making new highs aren’t at any greater risk of going down. Quite the contrary, there’s a higher probability of stocks going up even further! 

More . . .

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Climbing The Wall Of Worry

Inflation is the latest worry to grip the market.

And some have begun to worry that if inflation gets too hot, the Fed might have to raise interest rates sooner rather than later.

But let’s remember that some inflation is good. Not too much, but some. And one person’s cost increase is another person’s profit.

It’s also important to know that stocks typically perform well in inflationary environments.

That’s why the Fed has a target of 2%, and not 0%. In fact, over the last several years, the Fed is on record as being more concerned over low inflation than high inflation.

And that’s why they are now willing to let it run hotter than normal, for longer than normal, before doing anything on rates. (Although, they will begin scaling back their bond buying, and the market cheered the news when announced.)

It’s true that inflation is too hot right now. And that’s in large part due to supply disruptions, worker shortages, and base effects (comparing current prices to last year’s pandemic-subdued numbers).

But these are considered transitory. And the aforementioned problems should start seeing some relief, especially as the enhanced unemployment benefits, which just came to an end the other week, will force many workers to rejoin the workforce, thus reducing the supply shortages and worker shortages, while simultaneously helping to ease inflation.

In fact, the Fed has reduced inflation expectations for 2022 and 2023, putting it at 2.1%.

Let’s also remember that inflation, in and of itself, doesn’t tank economies. High interest rates do.

But that’s literally years and years down the road. 

Record Low Interest Rates Are Here To Stay For Some Time 

As you know, the Fed has kept interest rates at record lows.

And they have repeatedly pledged to do whatever it takes to support the economy, and get back to full employment.

In doing so, they have constantly reiterated that they plan to keep interest rates near zero for the foreseeable future – that means through all of 2022 and a portion of 2023.

Even when they do begin to raise rates, roughly two years from now, they are essentially starting from zero. And it should be noted that over the last 50 years, there’s never been a recession (aside from last year’s pandemic-induced plunge), when the Fed Funds rate was under 4%.

And at quarter point moves (even half point moves), it would take years to get to that level.

Bullish Economic Growth

In the meantime, the market has been focusing on the historic economic growth.

With full-year GDP expected to come in at the fastest pace in 37 years, it’s easy to see why stocks have been going up.

Then add in the unprecedented fiscal stimulus that has already been approved by Congress, not to mention the infrastructure package that is likely on the way in the near offing, let alone the domestic spending bill that’s currently being debated (whatever the final price tag ends up being), and the economy looks set to soar.

Add all that up, coupled with the reopening of the economy (delta variant notwithstanding), and we’re about to see a record amount of pent-up economic demand meet a record amount of stimulus money.

And that’s a recipe for explosive economic growth and stock market gains.

That’s also why people are expecting this to be the beginning of a multiyear boom.

History In The Making

What we’re seeing right now is history in the making.

And historic times typically lead to historic price gains.

So you need to make sure you’re taking full advantage of it.

And not squandering this opportunity with preventable mistakes.

If you ever wished you could have traded historic times in the market differently, now is your chance.

Because the next historic run-up could be upon us.

Do What Works 

So how do you fully take advantage of this historic opportunity?

By implementing tried and true methods that work to find the best stocks.

For example, did you know that stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buy have beaten the market in 26 of the last 32 years with an average annual return of 24.7% per year? That's nearly 2.5 x the S&P. But when doing this year after year, that can add up to a lot more than just two and a half times the returns.

And did you also know that stocks in the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperform those in the bottom 50% by a factor of 2 to 1? There's a reason why they say that half of a stock's price movement can be attributed to the group that it's in. Because it's true!

Those two things will give any investor a huge probability of success and put you well on your way to beating the market.

But you’re not there yet, as those two items alone will only narrow down a field of 10,000 stocks to the top 100 or so. Way too many to trade at once.

So the next step is to get that list down to the best 5-10 stocks that you can buy.

Proven Profitable Strategies 

Picking the best stocks is a lot easier when there’s a proven, profitable method to do it.

And by concentrating on what has proven to work in the past, you’ll have a better idea as to what your probability of success will be now and in the future.

For example, if your strategy did nothing but lose money year after year, trade after trade, over and over again, there’s no way you'd want to use that strategy to pick stocks with. Why? Because it's proven to pick bad stocks.

On the other hand, if your strategy did great year after year, trade after trade, over and over again, you'd of course want to use that strategy to pick stocks with. Why? Because it's proven to pick winning stocks.

Of course, this won't preclude you from ever having another losing trade. But if your stock picking strategy picks winners more often than losers, you can feel confident that your next trade will have a high probability of success.

Here are a few of my favorite strategies that have regularly crushed the market year after year.

New Highs: As mentioned earlier, studies have shown that stocks making new highs have a tendency of making even higher highs. And this strategy proves it. The alignment of positive price action and strong fundamentals creates all the necessary conditions to see these stocks soar to even greater heights. Over the last 21 years (2000 thru 2020), using a 1-week rebalance, the average annual return has been 45.5% vs. the S&P’s 6.6%, which is nearly 7 x the market.

Small-Cap Growth: Small-caps have historically outperformed the market time and time again. Often these are newer companies in the early part of their growth cycle, which is when they grow the fastest. This strategy combines the aggressive growth of small-caps with our special blend of growth and valuation metrics for explosive returns. Over the last 21 years (2000 thru 2020), using a 1-week rebalance, the average annual return has been 51.2%, beating the market by 7.6 x the returns.

Filtered Zacks Rank 5: This strategy leverages the Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys, and adds two time-tested filters to narrow the list of stocks down to five high probability picks each week. Over the last 21 years (2000 thru 2020), using a 1-week rebalance, the average annual return has been 51.3%, which is 7.7 x the market.

The best part about these strategies (aside from the returns) is that all of the testing and hard work has already been done. There’s no guesswork involved. Just point and click and start getting into better stocks on your very next trade. 

Where To Start

Now that the economic recovery is in full swing, there's a simple way to add a big performance advantage for your stock-picking success. It's called the Zacks Method for Trading: Home Study Course.

With this fun, interactive online program, you can master the Zacks Rank in your own home and at your own pace. You don’t have to attend a single class or seminar.

Zacks Method for Trading covers the investment ideas I just shared and guides you to better trading step by step, plus so much more.

You'll quickly see how to get the most out of the proven system that has more than doubled the market for over three decades. Discover what kind of trader you are, how to find stocks with the highest probability of success, and how to trade them so you can consistently beat the market no matter where stock prices are headed.

You’ll get the formulas behind our top-performing strategies suited for a variety of different trading styles.

The best of these strategies produced gains up to +130.5%, +381.1% and even +580.6% over the past five years (2016 through 2020).¹

The course will also help you create and test your own stock-picking strategies.

Today is the perfect time to get in. I'm giving participants free hardbound copies of my book, Finding #1 Stocks, a $49.95 value. Its 300 pages unfold virtually every trading secret I’ve learned over the last 25 years to beat the market.

Please note: Copies of the book are limited and your opportunity to get one free ends Saturday, September 18, unless we run out of books first. If you're interested, I encourage you to check this out now.

Find out more about Zacks Method for Trading: Home Study Course >>

Thanks and good trading,

Kevin

Zacks Executive VP Kevin Matras is responsible for all of our trading and investing services. He developed many of our most powerful market-beating strategies and directs the Zacks Method for Trading: Home Study Course.

¹ The results listed above are not (or may not be) representative of the performance of all strategies developed by Zacks Investment Research.



 

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