Federatedâs Tice Says S&P 500 Is Poised to Plunge 62%
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Standard & Poorâs 500 Indexâs 28 percent rise since March 9 is a âsuckerâs rally,â and the overvalued measure may plunge 62 percent as earnings continue to shrink, according to David Tice of Federated Investors Inc.
Stocks are overpriced relative to earnings, which wonât rebound soon after posting the longest quarterly slump since the Great Depression, said Tice, the chief portfolio strategist for bear markets at Federated. Analysts estimate that the S&P 500 earnings decline, which has lasted for six quarters, will continue for three more quarters before profits improve, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The S&P 500âs five-week advance, the steepest since the 1930s, according to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt, may carry the index 16 percent higher to 1,000 points before faltering, Tice said.
âStocks are overpriced in terms of earnings,â he said in a Bloomberg Television interview. âWe are closing down factories and retailers and businesses all over the place. How in the world are earnings going to stabilize? We just donât see it.â
The Federated Prudent Bear Fund that Tice founded returned 27 percent last year as the S&P 500 plunged 38 percent, the most since 1937.
Tice said the benchmark index for U.S. stocks may end the year at 500, representing a 42 percent slide from todayâs close of 865.30. It may eventually fall to 325, he said.
Companies in the S&P 500 trade at 1.9 times their liquidation value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tice said that ratio may fall to between 1 and 0.5.
âIâve never been more confident that this market will fall back to at least book value,â Tice said.
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