00:00 Brian
Chris, let me start with you here. Uh, thin trading this week, but the market has been pretty much uh on an upward bias for the better part of the month. What do you think investors are wagering on?
00:12 Chris
You know, Brian, I I think folks are taking a look at what happens in 2026. You know, the year end, as you mentioned, very quiet, very calm. Folks are doing their homework for the coming year.
00:23 Chris
We’ve got CES next week that could bring a lot of confirmation for not only new devices, but potentially a new wave of AI adoption, but for me, I’m kind of sitting back, waiting for the December quarter earning season.
00:37 Chris
You know, when I look at that S&P 500 PE multiple, it is pretty lofty and it tells me the coming year is going to be more predicated on upside for earnings growth. That’s what I’ll be focused on.
00:50 Brian
Chris, I’m glad you called out that uh CES. Uh I suggest everyone watching this or listening, January 5th, put that on your calendar. That’s Jensen Wong, Nvidia CEO. He will give a speech. AMD CEO Lisa Sue will give a speech that day, very important market drivers. Brooke, I know you’re tracking. Got some good comments out of Ed Yardeni this morning.
01:08 Brooke
Yeah, we sure did over the weekend. Ed Yardeni saying that he expects productivity growth to really drive momentum into 2026 ongoing to what we’ve seen so far in 2025. And he has a pretty bullish outlook as with consensus on the street, largely bullish calls on what 2026 S&P 500 targets as high as 7100.
01:28 Brooke
In particular, uh Ed Yardeni really does see this broadening out of the S&P 500. He does expect it to push above about 10% to 7700 by year end of 2026, largely led by earnings momentum. He expects earnings growth of about 10% in 2026 as well.
01:51 Brooke
And also he expects this broadening out of the AI trade as opposed to just concentration within the mag 7 that we’ve largely seen this year. He specifically said within this note that he expects these stocks to broaden out to what he called the S&P 500’s impressive 493.
02:08 Brooke
So really not just those AI producers, but rather these AI users who are implementing this technology to really once again boost that productivity, which he expects to really lead to growth next year as well, in addition to what we’ve already seen within 2025. And so he’s just one of the many bulls on the street that expects this ongoing optimism as we make our way into the new year.