Tom Lee, who correctly called the stock market rally after June's softer-than-forecast inflation report, said the S & P 500 could hit a record high soon — on one condition. "Many believe a recession is imminent, and I think earnings season will really give us an idea and we'll know that in the next couple of weeks," Lee, founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said Wednesday on CNBC's " Closing Bell Overtime.
When they telegraph massive increase in [rate hikes] last year and they were going to be aggressive, businesses got cautious, so we don't necessarily have companies tripping over themselves, which is what typically creates the recession dynamic," Lee said. Lee recently raised his year-end S & P 500 target to 4,825, which would put the benchmark at an all-time high.