Stocks Hold Steady Despite Rising Yields

“Wall Street never changes, the pockets change, the suckers change, the stocks change, but Wall Street never changes because human nature never changes.”

- Jesse Livermore

Good evening:

Good news for bulls might be in store: Tom Lee calls for an eight-week rally after February’s pullback, buoyed by data next week that should show softer inflationary pressures and a softer jobs market. In his view, a data-dependent Jerome Powell should all but cement a 25-basis point hike for the March Federal Reserve meeting during his upcoming meetings with Congress. Combined with a market that isn’t expensive and a lower VIX, Lee says we have a path for the S&P 500 to rise to 4,250 by late April. 

A month ago, Lee cautioned that February wouldn’t likely be a positive month for stocks given that January was so strong. The seasonals supported that belief, and the major averages slipped in the last few weeks. But historically, S&P 500 returns have been positive for March and April when the prior year is negative and the first five days are as strong as this year.