This stock market just doesn’t want to go down.
The Dow eked out a small gain Monday — just enough to lift the 30 industrial stocks to their ninth record high in a row and 10th straight gain overall.
Boeing, Goldman Sachs and Walmart led the way for the Dow, which is up 12% in 2017 and more than 20% since President Trump was elected.
Wall Street has focused more on strong corporate earnings and less on the turmoil in Washington during Trump’s first 200 days in office. And that could continue.
“Investors are not worried about risks. The market is ignoring noise,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist with TD Ameritrade.
Kinahan notes that it’s hard to remember a period where so many people think stocks are due for a big pullback. Sometimes when people all expect the market to zig, it zags instead.
“It’s the rally that nobody respects. People are just thinking about how bad things could get. There are lot of non-believers,” Kinahan noted.
The rally has been fueled by mega-sized tech stocks Appl, Amazo, Faceboo, Microsof and Google owner Alphabe, plus and other hot stocks like Netfli and Tesl.
It could be a bad sign for the broader economy if more companies don’t start to participate in the rally. Experts usually prefer when a larger mix of companies are doing well. The rally could also be at risk if any of those market darlings start to founder.
“The market is not as healthy as it looks. A rising tide is only lifting the biggest boats,” said David Lafferty, chief market strategist for Natixis Global Asset Management.
Lafferty is particularly concerned that the market may be ignoring the possibility of more debt ceiling drama later this year.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been trying to convince Congress that it must soon raise the debt ceiling so the U.S. can continue to pay its bills on time.
But none of that matters to investors right now. Healthy profits from big businesses have investors feeling giddy. CNNMoney’s Fear & Greed Index, which looks at seven measures of market sentiment, is showing signs of greed.
That could mean that the market may make a run at this year’s earlier record of records. Back in February, the Dow closed at a new high 12 days in a row.
