Ed Yardeni says ‘Roaring 2020s’ happening faster than he expected

The stock market’s steady rally is forcing even bullish market forecasters to play catch-up and raise their targets. Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research late Wednesday hiked his year-end target for the S & P 500 to 5,800 from 5,400. He said in a note to clients that the market is in a “slow-motion meltup” and that investors seem to be embracing his idea that solid growth can continue through the rest of the decade. “The stock market seems to be discounting our Roaring 2020s scenario faster than we expected. We’ve been among the most bullish investment strategists since November 2022, but not bullish enough. The bull market might continue to achieve our targets ahead of schedule,” Yardeni said. .SPX YTD mountain The S & P 500 has rallied past the targets of even bullish forecasters. The strategist has been predicting a “roaring 20s” decade for several years, citing the potential productivity gains from technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence. This week’s report repeated Yardeni’s forecast that the S & P 500 can reach 8,000 by the end of the decade. Yardeni’s new target for 2024 is on the high side of Wall Street expectations. According to the CNBC Market Strategist Survey , the average year-end target from major banks is 5,464, with a median forecast of 5,600. The benchmark index closed Wednesday at 5,633.91. The S & P 500 needs to rise about 3% by year-end to reach Yardeni’s 2024 target. The stock market has consistently beaten projections over the past two years, fueled in large part by the gains of megacap tech stocks such as Nvidia . The S & P 500 is higher by 18% year to date, and nearly 28% over the past 12 months. Yardeni has long been a mainstay on Wall Street, having served earlier in his career as chief investment strategist at Prudential Equity Group and Deutsche Bank’s U.S. equities unit, as well as chief economist at CJ Lawrence, Prudential-Bache Securities and EF Hutton.