here is a bit longer term rendition of my current views. the red circled area is the end of the year and has the largest number of confluencing factors -- midpoint of pitchfork, 50% retracement of covid gains. ironically the bull case would be the top near the yellow line at 3900 and the extra bearish case would be more like 3200 or so, which is a 62.8% retrace - possible, perhaps likely but not as nicely confluenced. i think it's possible we might see 3200 (or 3000) next year in the 1st half, but i dont see us going much lower than that. but either way, a 3650 retest is likely coming really soon!
while the last inflation report didnt say much was going on with wages, I think this is a semi fake view. there are a ton of job hoppers pushing wages up. the recent amtrak deal suggest workers still have too much bargaining power. those wage hikes will contribute directly to pushing harder on inflation. we're not done yet, and there needs to be a tremendous amount of demand destruction to help jack the unemployment rate up higher and rebalance the leverage workers have against corporate needs.
in future administrations, one might hope they would realize that supply side problems are not gently handled by demand destruction, but rather by investment, improvement, and incentive around the supply chain. this is obviously not happening.
there are a few interesting standouts - ELF, AMPS, TSLA, but really it's not worth trying to fight the fed on this one. if you take the bear case pitchfork to 3000-3200, that is still a 20%+ smack from here. I dont see the potential for 20% upside in any of these names, so you're best hiding out in short term paper until things settle down.
for EOY predictions...:
over 3900: 5%
3500-3650: 50%
3000-3200: 40%
under 3000: 5%
what do you think??