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

Paulsen: Fed May Spark ‘Full Blown Correction’

Paulsen got cautious on US stocks at the end of last year and predicted a sideways 2015, which has come to pass so far, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up about 1.5% this year based on Friday’s close. … Acknowledging the upswing in stocks, Paulsen said the market could go higher in the short […]

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Kass: Lower Stock Prices Ahead

“…Greece is a dangerous precedent. … it remains my view that over the last few months markets have been in the process of making a broadening and important top. Markets are, by most measures, in fact teetering. … “Technically, leadership is narrowing — a likely prelude to second-half downside volatility. … ‘The Smart People are […]

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Lyons: Indicator ‘Off The Charts’ Bearish

“Since 1998, the put/call ratio on open interest in OEX options has been considered extremely elevated when it has risen above 2.00. From 1998 to 2011, there were just 6 days when the ratio got as high as 2.00. Each of those days either came in the vicinity of a significant market top or at […]

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Kass: Shorting Bonds, Yields Will Rise

“[I am] adding long ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury (TBF) (inverse bond ETF at $23.91) to my Best Ideas List, as I now expect a steady but slow rise in bond yields over the next few years. … “Growth signposts remain weak –- and this is now well known and grounded in consensus. China and […]

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Jakobsen: Sell Stocks, Take Six Months Off

“Investors should sell any equities bought over the past year, hold the proceeds as cash and take a holiday from the market for six months.” – Excerpt contributed by Chad Berger Z-val: Steen Jakobsen Via: Bloomberg Date: 3/31/15 Disposition: Medium-Term Bearish S&P 500 on 3/31/15: 2068 S&P 500 on 09/30/15: 1920 Change: -7.2% Judgment: Right […]

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