Time to Buy SPY

Even though the market has rallied substantially from March lows, it may be time to go long on SPDR S&P 500 (ETF) (NYSE:SPY).  One of the top strategists is suggesting that very thing…  One who predicted the financial meltdown.  SPY is the ETF that tracks the S&P 500 at roughly 10% of the value (e.g. If the S&P is at $1,000 then SPY is trading for $100/share).

Laszlo Birinyi is founder of Birinyi Associates, and he commented that since the closing low of 676 on March 9, the S&P 500 has risen an average of 0.31% a day. That is almost three times as much as the 1982 recovery, which averaged a 0.12% per day rise.  That makes the current rally the strongest in history. He went on to boldly state, "This is the Usain Bolt of markets… we just blew through the records."

Back in October 2007, Birinyi warned his clients of the forthcoming doom in bank stocks.  He now expects more gains this year from the S&P, largely because no one believes this is a bull market. Taking the contrarian approach, it has typically been negative sentiment that drives the S&P higher. He advises buying SPDR S&P 500 (ETF) (NYSE:SPY) to take advantage of the broad market rally.