BofA Securities' equities team has raised its S&P 500 price target to 5,400 from 5,000, predicting a 5% gain in the broader market by year-end but has tempered its bullishness due to improving sentiment across Wall Street. The team's realistic bear case is a drop in the S&P to 4,100, while their bull case is a rally to 6,500. They note that market pullbacks and corrections are overdue, and their Chief US Technician sees bearish divergences, but post-election day returns have historically been positive.
Bitcoin's price rally towards $30,300 triggered $125 million in liquidations of leveraged short futures contracts, with some analysts pointing to the potential inflow of institutional investors if BlackRock's ETF application gets regulatory approval. ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is bullish on Bitcoin's $1 million target, citing its ability to outperform in a deflationary environment. The negative regulatory pressure on Bitcoin eased after Binance struck a temporary agreement with the SEC to avoid a potential asset freeze. Bears concentrated their bets on Bitcoin trading below $27,000, but were caught by surprise as Bitcoin gained 10% in two days. Bulls are in a good position to capture a $250 million profit in the weekly BTC options expiry.
