In the throes of the financial crisis some five years ago, bond fund manager Mohamed El-Erian said the U.S. economy would find itself in a "new normal" period of slow growth and lower returns on stocks.
To some market observers, though, the "new normal" is finally over.
"I don't think investors have even begun to appreciate this better economic news," said Don Luskin, chief investment officer at Trend Macro, pointing to better-than-expected new factory orders and auto sales reports released Tuesday.
"We have been conditioned by five years of a crumby recovery to this idea that we're going to have 2 percent growth as the new normal," Luskin said on "Squawk on the Street." "Folks, the age of the 'new normal' is over."
Read MoreUS factory activity picks up at faster clip in May
New orders for factory goods climbed 0.7 percent in April. That was a surprise to market observers, who expected new factory orders to increase by just 0.5 percent in April. Additionally, it was the third consecutive month of gains for the index.
General Motors and Ford Motor shares climbed after both automakers reported sales that rose above estimates in May.
Read MoreAutomakers report strong uptick in May US sales
To Luskin, these signs of a strengthening U.S. economy are just the beginning.
"We are about to see a sequence of beat after beat after beat on all the macro numbers. We are going to have quarters in 2014 and 2015 where real GDP has a five handle," he said. "The stock market has it right by being at new all-time highs. The bond market is the one that has it wrong."
Despite the strong economic indicators, stocks shaved their losses in midday trading Tuesday. The problem, Luskin said, is that investors are just too focused on what could go wrong instead of appreciating what's been going right.
"Investors are still paranoid about the downside," he said. "The downside is gone."
Richard Bernstein, CEO of Richard Bernstein Advisors, agreed that after having to muddle through the economic recovery following the 2007-2009 recession, investors have become a little too negative.
"Everybody is still more concerned about protecting against the downside than about accentuating the upside," Bernstein said. "I don't think you've ever gotten a market top where people have been more worried about protecting against the downside."
What do you think? Is the 'new normal' really over?
Vote now in our poll, and leave your comment below!
—By CNBC's Drew Sandholm