The new biggest bull on Wall Street is growling a little like a bear. Wells Fargo Securities' Chris Harvey raised his year-end price target for the S&P 500 by about 20% this week. However, he is less enthusiastic about the market's upward trajectory. “It's weird. This isn't going to sound great. But even though we were up on the Street, I don't feel optimistic,” the company's head of equity strategy told CNBC's Fast Money on Tuesday. “It's not like: 'Wow, multiples are so cheap. Things are going to be great. The economy is on fire. The Fed has cut rates and will start cutting them tomorrow.' Harvey, who once referred to himself during a press conference in a CNBC interview as “not a real positive guy,” raised his official 2024 S&P 500 target to 5,535 on Monday. This implies a gain of approximately 6% from Tuesday's close of 5,209.91. Harvey made his comments about “quick money” one day before the Labor Department released its March CPI report. He pointed out that the economy is going through a period of distress. However, he believes stocks can still rise with huge technology and leading growth companies. “You don't need a strong economy for large caps because you're going to get a shift in market share. The winners, the higher profits, the higher growth companies are going to get more of that market share,” Harvey said. “So, if the winners keep winning, you won't need that growth and that's what we're counting on.” From now until the end of the year, he recommends a balanced approach to investing. He likes the overweight in communications services and sees AI as a secular story. “If the status quo remains, growth is good. That's good for growth. That's good for momentum, and it's good for big companies,” Harvey added. “If we start to see interest rates fall, what might work? Things that are no longer in favor: utilities, small businesses, more leveraged companies.” Harvey's S&P 500 year-end target for 2023 was 4420. The index finished the year up 24.2%, settling at 4,769.83. Disclaimer
