The S&P 500 entered bull market territory last week after gaining 20% from an October low, driven by investors betting on America’s resilient economic growth and an expected pause in interest-rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. All of this good news has left some of Wall Street’s top strategists split on what to do now—and what happens next. David Kostin of Goldman Sachs says he expects the gains to continue as other sectors catch up with a searing technology rally. But Michael Wilson of Morgan Stanley, one of the biggest bears out there, points instead to the bear market of the 1940s, when the S&P 500 rallied 24% before plummeting to a new low. “More are declaring the bear market officially over,” Wilson wrote in a note. “We respectfully disagree.” On Monday though, markets were with Kostin. Here’s your markets wrap. —
Sunny thinking is gaining adherents. With a year of downturn predictions filling the dustbin, many dues-paying members of Team Recessionary are coming around to the possibility that any threat of recession has eased, if not passed. But not everyone: From Fidelity International to Allianz Global Investors, the world’s biggest bond managers consider such optimism a potentially grave error. They’re sticking to their forecasts for a recession and advise hedging any bets on risk assets.