Don’t gush over Dow 27,000. Never mind the S&P 500 summiting 3000.
A more momentous milestone lies just ahead: If the S&P 500 climbs another 4%, it will have doubled the peak reached in the previous bull market. Only three prior bull cycles have logged such a 100% gain from the prior bull peak: The great bull markets of the 1950s. the ’80s and the ’90s.
Which makes this an apt moment to assess whether this market is growing tired, or enjoying a second (third? fourth?) wind.
The table here, prepared upon request by LPL Financial strategist Ryan Detrick, shows the appreciation of the S&P 500 not from the start of a bull market but above the highest level reached in the prior bull phase.