Siegel also dismissed fears from market bears that theis creating a bubble in stocks. The S&P 500 is trading around 20 times its 12-month forecasted earnings, which is close to the historical average.
That compares to the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s, when the benchmark index was selling at 30 times its 12-month forecasted earnings. Meanwhile, interest rates were higher back then, with the effective fed funds rate topping out at 6.51% in 2000. "That was scary," Siegel said of the internet stock craze."I don't regard today's valuations as scary."
Other Wall Street commentators have turned more bullish on the stock market as inflation continues to ease and markets expect the Fed to soon pause interest rate hikes, which weighed heavily on stocks in 2022.in 2023, estimating the index would notch 4,825 by year-end if stocks clear three key hurdles.