Stocks have been on a major upswing for the past five years, but haven’t gained quite as much as the big 1990’s bull market:
But the big question on investors’ minds is: When will the next crash happen?
This article about bull markets shows us how the current market compares historically.
We’re at about the median time length, and not quite the median gains.
So although it’s quite possible stocks will keep increasing for another year or two, it’s unlikely to go much further than that.
Another unique factor with this market is that it is being infused with money by something called “quantitative easing”, a large financial experiment with unknown side effects.
Meanwhile, corporate profits are doing very well, but earnings ratios are starting to get high.
And interest rates continue to stay extremely low.
It will be interesting to see what direction the stock market takes in 2014⁄2015.
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