A Run for the Record Books

"We don't think there's a bubble. There's a bull market. We need to make the distinction," Mark Keller, CIO of Gallatin Asset Management, tells Aaron Task on Wednesday's "The Real Story" podcast. "Bubbles develop when novice capital starts to speculate -- we're not seeing that."

Keller, whose firm manages over $9 billion in assets, adds that "private equity [activity] doesn't get this strong unless valuations are inexpensive. We think among the market generally valuations are not excessive."

The market did not appear to be on the path to a big rally Wednesday -- certainly not a record-setting day for the Dow and S&P 500 -- after overnight weakness in China bled into other Asian markets. But U.S. stocks recovered from their early declines and then took off after the 2 p.m. EDT release of the minutes of the Fed's May 9 meeting.

Whether investors focused on the Fed's concerns about housing as a sign of a pending rate cut or not, Wednesday's record-setting session is another reminder of the power of the bull market, says Task. "Buying the dips -- even minor ones -- keeps proving to be the right strategy."

The gains came amid another round of M&A activity, including a private equity takeover of CDW (CDWC Quote) and a $55-per-share bid for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PEI Quote), which gave a boost to other REITs, such as Public Storage (PSA Quote), amid speculation of more takeover activity in the space.