Stock Market Bears Can't Keep History From Repeating
February 15, 2011 at 05:00 AM EST
There's something in the air - and I'm not talking about spring or young love. I'm talking about a profound sense of déjà vu. The way the stock market has performed of late has me thinking back to the low volatility bull-market cycles of the early- and mid-1990s. So far 2011 is awfully reminiscent of 1995 - another year that featured a jobless recovery and a Democratic president moving to the center. Stocks continue to step higher day after day without any incredible catalysts providing propulsion because the motivating force is a quiet but steady drop in risk premiums combined with an upward re-rating of Price/Earnings (P/E) multiples. This is what a low-volatility bull market looks like, in case you've forgotten.