Opinion

Ian Guider: Investors bet on the roaring ‘20s starting next year

Financial markets have wagered the house on a presumption that the risks and issues which made the last few years problematic will end

Traders at work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 had smashed through 4,700 by the middle of December, surprising analysts. Picture: Getty

When strategists from Goldman Sachs released their 2024 forecasts at the start of November, they came up with a reasonably bright outlook. They predicted the S&P 500, the broader gauge of the health of the US stock market, would hit 4,700 by the end of 2024, a high single-digit gain on where it was then trading. The analysts were proven wrong and fairly quickly. The S&P 500 smashed through 4,700 by the middle of December, ...