Our short answer to the question posed in the title: "Bull market." The S&P 500 rose to a new high today of 4198.05 for 2023 taking out the February 2 closing high of 4179.76 (chart). The market has climbed a Wall of Worry thanks to Wall Street's Worriers, who've predicted that the banking and the debt ceiling crises could make their widely expected imminent recession worse.
![](https://www.yardeniquicktakes.com/content/images/2023/05/image-5.png)
They could still be right, at least about a recession (eventually). However, concerns about both crises are abating rapidly. The S&P 500/400/600 Financials rallied in recent days. We think they are bottoming (chart). We are expecting a wave of mergers and acquisitions among the regional and community banks. Instead of worrying about which will fail, investors should bet on which will be acquired.