Economics

Pulling Life Support From a Bull Market on the Brink of History

  • Stocks face volatility, P/E headwinds should Fed raise rates
  • Stimulus aiding S&P 500 rally toward one of the longest bulls

Fed Rate Hike Path: Normalizing From the Zero-Bound

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

For a bull market in stocks that has been doubted and derided virtually from the day it began 6 1/2 years ago, the time has come to walk alone.

Barring a shock, investors are about to find out how much stocks are worth in the absence of Federal Reserve support that has helped restore $15 trillion to share values since 2009. Policy makers are poised to boost interest rates for the first time since 2006 today, ending a campaign of stimulus that helped stoke what could become the second-longest American rally on record next year.