By ANDREW BARY | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR
At 14,009, the Dow is within a hair’s breadth of its all-time high, set in 2007. Why the market could hit 15,000 this year—or more. Energy stocks and financials could lead the way.
The party is far from over. The early-year rally that on Friday took the Dow Jones Industrial Average to within 1% of its record high, set in 2007, could have a lot further to run. For starters, stocks aren’t expensive. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is valued at about 14 times estimated 2013 profits and the Dow fetches less than 13 times projected 2013 earnings. At the market peak in 2007, the Dow traded for 16 times forward earnings. Given ultralow interest rates, the market multiple has room to expand even if earnings growth remains modest.