For Investors Only -- July 6, 2014 -- "Sell In May, Stay Away" -- Perhaps Not So Much This Year

Two stories of interest, perhaps, for investors. The first is another forecast/speech by IMF's Christine Lagarde:

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde signaled a cut in the institution’s global growth forecasts as investment remains weak.

“The global economy is gathering speed, though the pace may be a bit less than we previously predicted because the growth potential is lower and investment” spending remains lackluster, Lagarde told the Cercle des Economistes conference in Aix-en-Provence, France.

The remarks underline the risks to global economic growth at a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve is trimming stimulus and the European Central Bank is fighting inflation that is less than half its targeted level. The IMF is preparing to update its economic forecasts this month after predicting April 8 that the global economy will expand 3.6 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2015.

The second is a more interesting article from The Wall Street Journal in which it as noted that when the Dow hit 17,000, that was the seventh-fastest 1000-point gain in the history of the blue-chip index:

The stock market is rolling into the second half of the year in stronger shape than many investors dared to hope in January.

The widely followed S&P 500 index has gained 7.4% for the year so far, building on last year's 30% spike.

The more concentrated Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 3%, after pushing through 17000 for the first time on Thursday.

The Dow's move came just 153 trading sessions since it first closed above 16000 on Nov. 21, 2013, making it the seventh-fastest 1000-point gain in the blue-chip barometer's history.

With signs that the U.S. economy is recovering from a winter contraction and the Federal Reserve expected to keep interest rates low for at least another year, many investors are betting the five-year bull market has more room to run. They are reluctant bulls, seeing few alternatives to equities.

The jobs data largely put to rest concerns among investors about the health of the economy, after U.S. gross domestic product fell at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.9% in the first quarter, the fastest rate of decline since the recession. The S&P 500 eked out a 1.3% gain in the first quarter, the smallest quarterly increase by stocks since a decline in the fourth quarter of 2012.

By the way, the expectation that the Federal Reserve may "keep interest rates low for at least another year" is quite incredible. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.

There is an article elsewhere in which Bill Gross of Pimco fame thinks low interest rates are the "new norm."