Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, suggested Friday, with the appropriate caveats, that the S&P 500 may well return in the mid-to-upper teens in 2012. In fact, S&P Capital IQ’s Investment Policy Committee forecasts that the S&P will end 2012 at 1,400, or a 13.5% advance over the Dec. 8, 2011 close of 1,234.
Stovall (left) notes that “history indicates, but does not guarantee, that the S&P 500 return in 2012 will likely be positive,” and goes on to note that since 1900, the median difference in annual price performances for the S&P 500 was 17 percentage points. But using the median 12-month forecasts from each of the Investment Policy Committee members, the group suggests a 15 percentage point change from 2011’s YTD result.