Hartnett: "Another 3-5% Will Feel Like Bathing In Lava If You're A Bear"

Michael Hartnett (unlike that "other Mike" bear) can't stop winning: from correctly calling investors' preference for foreign over US stocks, to calling the pain trade (up), to laying out a pathway how to navigate the treacherous pre- and post-recession market  of 2023, the Bank of America Chief Investment Officer knocks it out of the park with uncanny precision and startling regularity.

And unlike that "other" bear who claims to pursue the right tactical positioning, yet refuses to change his mind when the market technicals not only change but make a brutal 180, and will therefore remain bearish until such time as his clients call him out for their busted stop losses and force him to turn bullish (which will happen soon enough), Hartnett is eagerly flexible, which is why last week he warned that contrary to consensus, the market may experience a powerful meltup in the first half before slumping in H2. And judging by the brutal squeeze observed so far in January (which forced even the most prominent Goldman bear to capitulate earlier today), Hartnett captions his latest weekly note (available to pro subs) here with the following Heard on the Street aphorism:

"Another 3-5% here will feel like bathing in lava if you're a bear."