Do We Have a FOMO or FEMO S&P 500 Bull Market?

Looking at today’s S&P bull market, we can ask if it’s FOMO or FEMO.

The S&P 500 Bull Market

On Friday, the S&P 500 closed at a record high of 7757.64. As a bull market, historically, it fits in the middle:

The late 1990s had what economist Dr. Ed Yardeni calls a “meltup/meltdown scenario.” As a dot. com-dominated era with a FOMO driven climb, investors had the “Fear of Missing Out.” While we can cite some tech parallels with today’s highs, instead, FEMO–fabulous earnings momentum–is the fuel.

The Current Bull Market

Having begun on its previous trough, October 12, 2022, the current bull market is up 116.9 percent. Among the eight bull markets since 1966, Dr. Ed places it as #5. Then he suggests comparing its current run with the other eight to decide a potential upside. His conclusion? At #5, this bull could be Goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold.

Our Bottom Line: Market Acronyms

At your next cocktail party, you might want to casually refer to the acronyms that can describe the incentives that propel market activity.

• FOMO and FEMO: Always we can refer to FOMO- Fear Of Missing Out and FEMO, Fabulous Earnings Momentum.
• YOLO, TINA and TARA: But also, there is YOLO–You Only Live Once, TINA, There Is No Alternative, and TARA, There Are Reasonable Alternatives.
• RINO: And, we have RINO-Recession In Name Only.
• NACHO and TACO: Then, for geopolitical trading nudges , you can mention NACHO, Not a Chance Hormuz opens and TACO, Trump Always Chickens Out.

My sources and more: Dr Ed’s (economist Ed Yardeni) Quick Takes are always the place to get a snapshot of stock and bond markets. Next, Business Insider had a list of market acronyms and their connection to current market activity. Then, for my S&P 500 Bull Markets graph, I used ChatGPT. (Interestingly, it hallucinated with durations in the number of months so I had to exclude them.)