Happy Birthday, Bull Market!

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It's been exactly six years since the the S&P 500 hit an intraday low of 666.79 on March 6, 2009.

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The S&P 500 opened on Friday at 2,100.91, a remarkable 215% gain. It's just off its all-time high of 2,119.59 (Feb. 25).

"Only three [bull markets] since World War II have lasted this long," S&P Capital IQ's Sam Stovall said.

COTD bull market birthday

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"Can we make it 'til year 7?" Stovall asks. "Earnings per share growth may help since this year's 7.7% rise is consistent with the long-term average for year six, and earnings per share growth was 11% in year seven. Interest rates remain accommodative with the yield on the 10-year note currently well below the average of 4.7% at year six, making the yield curve is the steepest it's ever been at this point in the cycle. Finally, the rule of 20, which sums the P/E with the CPI is currently below 19 versus 22 at bull market tops since 1948, implying that stocks are not overpriced."

But that's obviously no guarantee of more riches.

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"This is one of the few times in which history might not be a good guide - we know it's never gospel - due to the limited number of seventh year observations," Stovall said. "It might be wise to ignore prior observations and proceed with caution."