One of my favorite authors/poets is Robert Frost, and while he has written a great number of things, the poem I most favor is called is in the book "Mountain Interval" and is called "The Road Not Taken". My reason for mentioning this is simply because I wanted to state (via Robert Frost) how I felt about the stock market.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
- Robert Frost "The Road Not Taken"
My point is this, while many are still of the mindset that stocks are not attractive and people need to remain in bonds and or cash, I differ with their conclusions. As I've written, I believe stocks are the best place to be invested at going into 2012. I think there will be a plethora of mergers and acquisitions in both the financial and technological sectors, and coupled with that corporate profits are starting to pick up, both of which will serve to propel stock prices higher.
While quoting Robert Frost my be random, I saying that I disagree with the conservative view that most mainstream pundits talk about. I believe now is the time to buy U.S. stocks and reallocate ones portfolio out of bonds and into stocks. I'm a contrarian investor by nature, and therefore I almost always look at the other side of the argument to evaluate what it is...and when I look at owning bonds vs. stocks, I believe it is more favorable to buy stocks.
On a side note, Suntrust Financial (which I own) got another upgrade in price target today from another financial firm - this is the second one this week.
