When it comes to reading the mercurial stock market tea leaves, I’ve recognized the Maven of Manhattan, Sam Stovall, CFRA Chief Investment Strategist, to be the keenest of all. Mr. Stovall is the patriarch of Sector Investing, meaning that Sam is your go-to guy when it comes to rotating from one industry to the next for logical and technical reasons. So, what does the Maven of Manhattan have to say about the market’s recent move?
Stovall’s instincts are such that no matter how crazy the market acts, Sam is on the front lines ready to make sense of it all. His assumptions first and foremost include historical facts and precedence, and secondly, he has steely nerves when most market participants don’t.
CFRA Research reported that since World War II, the S&P 500 has suffered through thirteen bear markets, averaging 32.7% losses. Mr. Stovall informed stock owners that 7.6 months later, stocks were generally higher, on average 34.4%. Subsequently, the market would take a breather, and retracements approximated 10.3%. No one knows if the market will follow suit, but the market fell 8.3% from June 8th to today’s low. If it holds, chalk another one up for one of Wall Street’s Hall of Famers.
