This Rally Still Has Plenty of Room to Run

Nervous? With the stock market hitting new all-time highs just about every day, I certainly hope you're feeling cautious.

As we celebrate the lunar new year and move into the Year of the Pig, it's certainly a good time to remember the old Wall Street saw about hogs getting slaughtered. Now is not the time to forget about fundamentals or to ignore price targets.

But it's not time to bail out, either. Some pretty strong currents are still running in this market's favor, and we're likely to climb the famous Wall Street wall of worry to even higher highs over the next few months.

Up, Up and Away

That said, this certainly isn't the time to be laying on risk with a trowel. (See preceding wall metaphor.) And it certainly is becoming harder and harder to find a bargain in the stock market.

On Feb. 16, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 12,767, a record for the closing price on the index. That close erased the record of 12,765, set just the day before. The close was the 29th new high since Oct. 3, when the Dow broke a six-year-old record.

The rally has been remarkable for its longevity, its lack of corrections and its breadth. It's now four-and-a-half years old, making it the third-longest bull market on record. Much of that climb has been without significant backsliding: For the past 47 months, the market has climbed without a 10% correction, says Jim Stack of InvesTech Research.