If there’s one thing Wall Street hates, it’s uncertainty. And between the COVID-19 pandemic and the presidential election, there was plenty of uncertainty to go around. So, it’s no surprise that many investors ran to the sidelines.
It should also come as no surprise that there’s never been so much cash sitting on the sidelines — nearly $5 trillion, as a matter of fact. This is significantly above the record $3.8 trillion in cash set back in January 2009 during the financial crisis!
Consumers also kept their wallets closed. Typically, Americans keep 7%-8% of their income in savings. This year, though, that rate surged over 33%. According to the FDIC, more than $2 trillion has been stockpiled into individual bank accounts.
That money came from selling stocks and the massive government stimulus that was pumped into the economy. As you may recall, the U.S. government passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package in March. Part of that package included a $1,200 check for American taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or under on their 2019 tax returns.
Interestingly, folks who earned between $35,000 and $75,000 increased their investing activity in the stock market by a whopping 90%.
In addition, to keep the economy going, the Federal Reserve just about threw in the kitchen sink. Back in March, the Fed announced that it would not cap its quantitative easing program at $700 billion. The Fed also committed to purchase as many Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities “in the amounts needed” to help stabilize the U.S. economy. And it would purchase agency commercial mortgage-backed securities.
Thanks to this unlimited quantitative easing, the Dow and S&P 500 will continue to yield more than the 10-year Treasury, which is hanging a little below 1%. In comparison, the Dow and S&P 500 currently yield about 2.5% and 1.9%, respectively.
And now, with a lot of the uncertainty shaken out of the market, cash is pouring in from the sidelines. That has driven the stock market higher. The three major indices have hit record highs, with the Dow finally breaking its 30,000 milestone.
In addition, stocks tend to move higher when the money supply is high. It’s never been this high before, so there is significant upside ahead in 2021 — and significant potential for big profits.
It’s for this reason that I am sitting down with my InvestorPlace colleague Louis Navellier for a special Early Warning Summit 2021 event on Thursday, December 17 at 7 p.m. ET.
Exactly one year ago, we introduced Power Portfolio 2020 with a single goal in mind — to provide our members with a robust, diversified stock portfolio that would do well in many different economic conditions.
I am proud to say we did just that. In fact, as I mentioned yesterday, we closed the portfolio with massive gains of 35%, which blew away the Dow’s 6% return in the same timeframe.
Louis and I see several factors that could lead to even bigger gains in 2021, like the cash on the sidelines that we discussed today. We’ll discuss our expectations in full detail in the upcoming Early Warning Summit. And in the meantime, I’ll be back in touch again tomorrow with another trend that could lead to big market gains next year. I’m talking about clean energy and infrastructure.
I can’t wait to speak with you in more detail next week, so please don’t hesitate to reserve your spot for our special Early Warning Summit event today. You can do so now by clicking here.
On the date of publication, Matthew McCall did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
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