Kostin believes that volatility could be exacerbated by the fact that buybacks of corporate stock, which have helped fuel the bull market, are expected to scale back in the coming weeks.email database lists Goldman Sachs"Most S&P 500 firms have already entered their buyback blackout windows, and are therefore prevented from executing discretionary buybacks beyond the automatic share repurchases taking place through 10b5-1 plans," Kostin said.
<u><strong>Wall Street is slashing its outlook for stock prices.</strong></u>
In a follow-up note on Monday, Kostin cut his year-end target for the S&P 500 to 2,000 from 2,100. He joins peers at RBC Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank, who have all cut their targets for the S&P in recent weeks.
In addition to economic concerns, Kostin pointed to elevated valuations (i.e., the price-earnings multiple) during a time when the Federal Reserve is about to tighten monetary policy. Goldman Sachs' house view is that the Fed will raise policy rates on December 16.
