Identifying equity peaks and valleys has traditionally confounded scores of investors eager to position their portfolios based on their market outlooks. Many investors are now watching for a market decline to create a “buying opportunity” but history suggests that the current bull run may still have legs.
- Bull market longevity is increasing. The 1990s U.S. bull market lasted 12 years and was the most prolific bull market in modern American history.
- The last four years of the 1990s boom produced more than a 150% total return. Equities generated a high single-digit annualized return through the trough of the following correction.
- We are now more than eight years into a secular bullish trend that may have considerable room to continue given that it is four years younger than the 1990s bull market.
- Investors who are waiting for the “perfect” buying opportunity should consider the opportunity cost of doing so.