Here's the top reason US stocks aren't in bubble territory, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee

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Here's the top reason US stocks aren't in bubble territory, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York CityReuters
  • US stocks are not in bubble territory because 94% of retail inflows since 2008 have gone into bonds, not stocks, Fundstrat's Tom Lee highlighted in a note on Monday.
  • Just $183 billion of retail money has flowed into the stock market since 2008, according to Lee.
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US stocks are set to perform "surprisingly well" over the next decade, in part because there is "no bubble in stocks," Fundstrat's Tom Lee said in a note on Monday.

Even after the S&P 500's 16% rally to record highs in 2020 during a global pandemic, investors are likely to see further gains in stocks because, since 2008, 94% of retail fund flows have gone into bonds, not stocks, Lee said.

Of the $3.1 trillion in retail fund inflows since 2008, just $183 billion, or 6%, went into the stock market. And in the past three years, fund flows into stocks have been weak, despite a nearly 70% surge in the S&P 500.

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 37 stocks that could earn you the strongest returns without taking on big risks in 2021 as the recovery and vaccine distribution get underway

"Investors liquidated stocks at an accelerating pace since 2017," Lee said. In the past few months, he added, there has been a "small blip" of flows into the stock market, but "how can this 'blip' mark the top??!!"

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Since 2008, investors have poured $936 billion into bond exchange-traded funds, $1.9 trillion into bond mutual funds, and $2 trillion into stock ETFs while pulling $1.9 trillion out of stock mutual funds, the note said.

"Again, I don't see how this marks even the proximity of a top for equities," Lee said.

Here's the top reason US stocks aren't in bubble territory, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee
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