How Jim O'Neill still has a job is beyond us. Not only is he the head of the worst performing vertical at Goldman Sachs, not only is he the creator of the Bloody Ridiculous Investment Concept (BRIC), but now this? Come on...
First, from Reuters: Goldman's O'Neill: U.S. equities market could rise 20 percent in 2012 - date December 27, 2011.
And then... from Bloomberg - S&P 500 May Rise 20% on U.S. Growth, Goldman's O'Neill Says, November 16, 2010.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may rise as much as 20 percent in 12 months and the dollar is poised to climb as U.S. economic growth tops investors’ projections, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chairman Jim O’Neill said.
The U.S. equity market will probably outperform the rest of the world and the dollar may strengthen 5 percent from current levels, O’Neill said in an interview in London today. The Federal Reserve will engage in another round of bond purchases, or “QE3,” if its current program fails to revive growth in the world’s largest economy, O’Neill said.
The S&P 500 is little changed since Nov. 3, when the Fed said it would buy $600 billion of Treasuries, adding to an earlier $1.7 trillion asset-purchase program known as quantitative easing that’s designed to cut unemployment and avert deflation. The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of six trading partners, rose 3 percent during the period.
“If QE2 doesn’t work, then we’ll get QE3,” said O’Neill, who was named chairman of the money manager in September after working as the co-head of global economics research and chief currency economist at New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. since 1995. There’s a “good chance” the S&P 500 will rise 15 percent to 20 percent in the next 12 months, he said.
To quote Erin Burnett, if in a totally different context, "Seriously?"