Rejoice, Foolish readers.
The S&P 500 has closed above 2,000 for the very first time.
The American economy is recovering. Consumer confidence is increasing. Warren Buffett is buying again, financing part of Burger King's $11 billion purchase of Canda's Tim Horton's.
It lead to Reuters reporting…
"The market's trend higher is still seen as intact. The S&P 500's price-to-earnings ratio is within historical norms, leading many analysts to believe stocks are not overvalued."
On Bloomberg, Manish Singh of Crossbreed Capital said..
"Any dip will be a shallow one. The central-bank and data narrative is still supportive of risk."
In other words, buy the dips.
It's a strategy that's worked wonders for the past couple of "stock market correction free" years.
If you're onto a good thing, stick to it. And with these ultra-low interest rates set to be with us for at least the next year, possibly longer, who's to know what derails this bull market, and when.
Of course, you can sit on the sidelines and wait, earning a pittance on your term deposits. Or you can join in the fun. I know where I sit…
Yesterday I wrote about how impressed I was with the M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU) results.
It seems the broker community is belatedly jumping on the bandwagon, The Sydney Morning Herald reporting M2 as being the most upgraded stock.
Collectively, the brokers have upgraded it from a hold to a weak buy. Talk about being late to the party! And what's this "weak buy?"
Talk about fence-sitting. Either it's a buy, or it's not. The only thing "weak" is the collective broker community.
The early bird catches the worm.
The early, and strong, investor captures the gains, and the wealth.
As I write, the S&P/ASX 200 Index is up a few points, not knowing whether it's Arthur or Martha.
All of which is a perfect lead in to a summary of the rest of today's share market news, courtesy of Motley Fool colleague Morgan Housel…
An Honest Stock Market Update
SYDNEY — Stocks gained momentum on Wednesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing up 18 points, building on last week's gains.
Experts hailed both moves as a "remarkable, textbook example of pure statistical chance," chalking up Wednesday's gains to a couple of random marginal buyers being slightly more motivated than a few random marginal sellers.
"Imagine you pick one million random people from around the world every day," said Toby McDade, chief investment officer of Momentum Fee Capital Management.
"Some days, 51% would be in a good mood, 49% in a bad mood. The next day maybe it's the opposite. Other days, random chance could mean 8% of people are really pissed off for no real reason. This is basically what the market is on a day-to-day basis," he said.
Asked what his clients thought of this view, Mr. McDade laughed.
"Oh my God, you think I could tell my clients that? How could I justify my salary?"
Clients were told Wednesday's gain was caused by a mix of reversing geopolitical instability, shifting uncertainty patterns, a risk-on atmosphere, and a perfect storm of beta meeting sigma. None knew what those words meant.
Australian corporations earned $1.62 billion of net income on Wednesday. Financial advisors, analysts, and brokers, collected $230 million in fees. No media outlet reported these figures, despite being the two most important numbers necessary to understanding investing.
A report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the economy added 9,000 jobs last month.
An economist from a right-leaning think tank called the report disappointing. Another at a left-leaning organisation called it encouraging. Neither has a reputable track record. Both yelled.
The jobs report has a margin of error of plus or minus 10,000, and will be revised multiple times in the coming years. No one whose outlook was swayed by the report said they care about these details.
Marc Faber appeared on TV predicting a 20% stock market crash within the next six months, repeating a call he has made bi-weekly since the Whitlam years.
Another pundit explained that his last failed prediction would have been right if only he hadn't been so wrong. Executives of financial TV networks met to discuss why ratings are at decade lows.
The yield on 10-year Australian government bonds fell from 3.42% to 3.38%. Nobody knows why.
A report from the Reserve Bank of Australia showed banks increased lending last quarter. Analysts called this a new bubble created by the RBA, though it's what any rational person would expect to see happening with interest rates at generational lows.
In Perth, 62-year-old Ronald Palmer put his life savings into gold after spending 10 minutes reading something on Google about inflation written by a guy who learned about inflation by spending 10 minutes on Google.
Nineteen-year-old Travis Baker spent the afternoon day-trading penny stocks because his pre-frontal cortex isn't yet fully developed and he couldn't recognise risk-reward trade-offs if they hit him in the face.
An army of bloggers reported from their parents' basements that Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn't understand technology. Reached out to for comment, Cook giggled, shook his head, and said one of his main regrets in life is not taking the advice of unemployed anonymous bloggers.
Long-term investors finished Wednesday one day closer to their goals. They sold no stocks in the process.
Analysts expect the news to be no different tomorrow.
* Morgan Housel's article is fake, but just barely.
Until next time, as ever, I wish you happy and profitable investing.
