Stock Market Forecasts

This page provides a running tally of stock market forecast accuracy. If other, larger studies are any indication, it will eventually settle on a 50% accuracy rate, same as a coin toss.

It’s important to understand that stock market forecasters cannot add value to your investing performance. Acting on their hunches will reduce your profit. It’s best to call them something that reminds you to ignore them: Z-vals.

The term z-val (“zee val”) is a shorthand introduced in The 3% Signal for “zero-validity forecasters” and “zero-validity environment.” The latter phrase was coined by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, where he wrote that “stock pickers and political scientists who make long-term forecasts operate in a zero-validity environment. Their failures reflect the basic unpredictability of the events that they try to forecast.”

This page is the Z-val Zone of Stock Market Forecasts.

The table below lists forecasts as they’re added. Accuracy is displayed once a z-val has at least one forecast tracked. Recent forecasts are shown below the table. For a complete history, see the Z-val Zone Judgment Schedule.

The purpose of this page is not to harm anybody’s reputation, but to show investors that guessing games don’t work. Click on some of the names below. Read their convincing forecasts. Notice:

1. The list of worries is a repeating one.
2. Bearish forecasts are usually wrong.
3. The way to win is to stick with an effective plan.

I recommend my Signal system of rational reaction as the best effective plan for Point 3 above. It takes into account the repeating factors of the stock market and its historical tendencies, and reacts rationally to what unfolds, no forecasting required.

Once you understand that forecasting is unhelpful, join me in looking only at past prices instead of guessing future ones. It will boost your performance and lower your stress.

To beat the market using a proven forecast-free system, please sign up for The Kelly Letter.

31

Total Forecasters

50

Total Forecasts

50

Judged Forecasts

10

Right

40

Wrong

20

Group Accuracy

All Forecasts

RIGHTTBDWRONG

Mirhaydari: Bonds Signaling Stock Trouble

“Stocks ended last week on a high note … driven by a batch of soft economic data, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve will be forced to delay its first rate hike since 2006 into the middle of 2016. Retail sales missed expectations. Industrial production and job openings were weak. We’ve also got the continuation […]

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Calhoun: Calm Before Storm

“The idea that an economy that performs so poorly that it keeps the Fed on the sidelines is good for stocks is one that can only be based on recent history, one that starts after the 2008 crisis. … “At some point bad news will be bad news for stocks again but the rest of […]

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Moraif: Recession to Bite

“As I have been reporting to you over the last few months, the world’s economy is slipping into recession while the US economy shows signs of strength. It is my view that the global recession will have a detrimental effect on our economy. The question that we are all waiting to get answered is, ‘Will […]

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Friedlander: High Black Swan Risk

“Players are pricing in the highest chance of an outlying black swan event in the next 30 days. The pricing currently is (for) a 15% chance of a two standard deviation move in the next 30 days. … So (it’s a) yellow flag for sure. Stay alert, stay alive!” wrote Roberto Friedlander, head of equity […]

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Gross: Another 10% Drop Ahead

“More negative numbers lie ahead and if you define a bear market by a 20% correction, at some point — that’s six to 12 months — we’ll have a classic definition of a bear market, meaning another 10% downside.” Bill Gross, manager of the $1.4 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, said the whipsaw market […]

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