The Market’s Passion

Sure, the stock market has risen for over eight years. But the run which started in October off 2016 is quite extraordinary, to say the least. Usually when bull markets get older, they fluctuate and run out of steam, but this one seems to have gotten quite a second wind. The question is — where is the excitement coming from?

When you look at the economy as a whole, the economy has gotten slightly stronger as the year goes on. Though, we should keep in mind that we may see a pause in this quarter with the natural disasters that have hit our country. Slightly stronger does not explain the jubilance the market seems to be experiencing. We believe that the passion is coming from not today’s performance, but is a response to hope for a major corporate tax cut. It is simple math. If a corporation’s tax liability goes down by 10 to 30 percent, their profits will go up barring other unforeseen circumstances. Higher profits make companies more valuable.

We caution that tax reform has not been enacted yet, and even if it is, we don’t know the final result. Regardless of what “side” you were on, the health care debate reminded us of how tough it is to implement changes in Washington — even when everyone knows something needs to be done. If our theory about tax reform is true, then any failure to enact significant tax reforms could be seen as a negative by the markets. Even if reforms are enacted, the markets might correct initially because the good news was built into the prices of stocks. We are not trying to predict the future, but when the markets have moved this far, it always is a good idea to be ready for at least a correction.

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