2018 will go down as a challenging market landscape for investors, especially in U.S. equities with the three major indexes having their share of struggles, but to one strategist, there appears to be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
According to John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management, the latest declines provide the perfect backdrop “for upward surprises in 2019.”
The markets closed out 2018 in the green as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 265 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.85 percent and the Nasdaq Composite ticked 0.77 percent higher. It’s been a rough year for U.S. equities with the Dow losing 6.70 percent through Dec. 30, while the S&P 500 has shed 7 percent and the Nasdaq Composite is down 4.632 percent.
Stoltzfus not only sees a rebound forthcoming in the U.S., but globally–this should help quell some investor fears of a global economic slowdown.
“With what we believe to be almost all but the kitchen sink priced into current valuations, we see opportunity for multiples to return to levels seen at the end of the third quarter … with multiple expansions resulting in a global equity rebound in the coming year,” Stoltzfus wrote in a note.