US stocks could go higher in “silly season in risk assets”

Markets were mixed on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 lost a point and the Nikkei 225 rose marginally but the Nasdaq Composite and the STOXX Europe 600 both gained 0.1 percent to hit record highs.

Some analysts think that US stocks could see losses in January due to tax-related selling.

Still, optimism remains high, with Ivan Martchev, an investment strategist with Navellier and Associates, saying that US stocks will go higher in 2020, the economy will strengthen, emerging markets will get more attractive and President Donald Trump will get re-elected.

However, Scott Minerd, chief investment officer at Guggenheim Partners, warned that we may be near a Minsky moment.

In a fourth-quarter market outlook, Minerd said that the Federal Reserve rate cuts this year has produced a “silly season in risk assets”, noting that “risks are building in various areas of the fixed-income credit markets, particularly in corporate credit”.