Wall Street is divided on birth of bull market

Analysts from some of Wall Street's top research shops have conflicting views on whether this market has horns.

The big picture: Expectations that the Fed will pause rate hikes, better-than-expected earnings, and growing hype about AI have all contributed to a rise of more than 20% for the S&P 500 from its October low.

Some say that should count as the start of a new bull market, Wall Street's totemic term of art for a market that tends to go up.

Yes, but: As we've pointed out before, we're not ready to say the horrible bear market that started last year — the S&P was down 19.4% in 2022, its worst year since 2008 — is conclusively over.

The traditional — though admittedly arbitrary — rule is that the S&P must hit a new high to confirm that we are indeed riding a bull.