What a Week: Balky Bulls

No one would ever confuse Hays, Goldman or Peroni for Doug Kass, so I ask (again): Where are the wild-eyed bulls?

They're absent on the sell side too, according to Seeking Alpha, which reports sell-side analysts currently "rate a lower percentage of [S&P 500] stocks as buys than at any other time over the last 10 years. It appears as though the closer the S&P 500 gets to its old highs, the less likely analysts are to embrace this bull market."

Levkovich, for one, remains upbeat about stocks, sticking with his year-end targets of Dow 13,800, S&P 1600 and 888 for the Russell 2000.

"We keep hearing 'the markets run too far,' but it's been legitimized by earnings," he says.

With about 80% of the S&P 500 having reported, first-quarter earnings are coming in at 12%, according to Bloomberg. Firms are not only whipping the consensus estimate of 3.2% year-over-year growth from April 1, but they're also topping the consensus from January of 8.4%, Levkovich notes. "People were just way too cautious on the earnings front."

That caution remains the watchword for many, after another week of gains suggests money remains on the sidelines -- or actively short -- and that the rally may not have breathed its last just yet.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints