The worst may be over. At least according to market maven Ed Yardeni who appears to be growing cautiously optimistic.
"This is starting to feel like a powerful bull market that's quite broad based," he says on Fast Money. "I'm very relieved to see economic indicators actually surprise us on the upside."
Yardeni is referring to government data showing that although the economy contracted in the fourth quarter, the decline was slightly less than expected. That data combined with housing and durable goods numbers released earlier in the week buoyed investor sentiment, broadly on Thursday and drove the S&P higher.
Yardeni says of all the government efforts to drive the economy there's growing evidence that one program is working well -- the Fed’s decision to slash the Fed funds rate. "Don't fight the Fed," he says.
In fact he sees a lot of positive factors that could lift stocks higher. Mortgage rates are coming down, for example. Also, a positive catalyst could present itself on April 2nd, if the FASB relaxes mark-to-market accounting rules.
"I think the S&P will be back to unchanged on the year, or 943, probably within the next few weeks," he adds.
