Wall Street’s expecting a soft landing in 2024—but that doesn’t mean stocks will soar
At the start of 2023, most economists and Wall Street leaders were convinced that a U.S. recession was imminent. With the Federal Reserve rapidly hiking interest rates to fight inflation, raising borrowing costs for already struggling businesses and consumers nationwide, economic and market forecasts were bleak. Investment banks’ average year-end price target for the S&P 500 fell to just 4,000 as bearish predictions flooded in late last year, implying the blue chip index would rise a mere 4% this year (compared to its roughly 10% average yearly gain since 1957)....