Last September, sentiment was pretty gloomy toward the global economy, and it was reflected by tumbling stock prices. The S&P 500 was trading at around 1150.
Right then, David Bianco--Bank of America's Chief U.S. Equity strategist at the time--did what few strategists of sound mind would do. He raised his 12-month target on the S&P 500. Specifically, Bianco boosted his target from 1400 to 1450.
Contrarian-tastic!
Unfortunately, his call drew some harsh criticism from the financial blogsphere. FT Alphaville wanted to know what he was smoking. Zero Hedge said he was "perfectly oblivious" of what was going on in Europe.
And just three days after he made his call, Bank of America replaced him with Savita Subramanian. It's unclear whether he resigned or was fired.
Anyways, it's still too early to tell if Bianco will hit his 12-month target, but he's getting close.
Also, there was one extraordinarily brilliant insight from his note that he totally nailed:
Discipline & courage earn gains--S&P 500 typically rallied 15%+ Sep-Jan when priced for a recession that didn't come.
Since his note was published, a recession didn't come and the S&P 500 has risen 16%.
SEE ALSO: Wall Street's Sharpest Minds Predict Where Stocks Are Headed In 2012
Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
See Also:
- Here's The Chart That Has Stock Market Bears Ripping Their Hair Out
- CHART OF THE DAY: The Roubini Stock Market Indicator
- Markets Are Booming Higher In Europe -- Still No Word On Greece