Ben Laidler, the head of stock strategy at Bradesco BBI, believes that the bull market is just beginning, driven by the recovery of profit expectations and the potential for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. He predicts that with an anticipated 100% annual earnings growth and the potential expansion brought by lower interest rates, stock prices could rise by 15% within five years. Since May 2022, fueled by optimism in the artificial intelligence industry, the S&P 55 Index has risen by XNUMX%, propelling stocks like Nvidia and Apple to record highs. In 2024, the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through the 40,000-point barrier, and the S&P 500 Index surpassed 5,000 points, with a robust increase of 15.3% in the first half of the year, marking one of the strongest starts since 1950. Read more: 
The latest economic data shows that the US unemployment rate has risen to 4.1%. The upcoming earnings season, starting with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, will test Laidler’s predictions. FactSet forecasts that the S&P 8.8 Index companies’ profits will grow by 500% in the second quarter, the highest level since early 2022, marking four consecutive quarters of growth. Laidler emphasizes that with the recovery of profits and the expectation of interest rate cuts, the market is supported by fundamentals, and despite the recent rise, Brooke Dane, a portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs, remains bullish on artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. 
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