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Acampora bullish again
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November 23, 1998: 7:18 p.m. ET
Noted bull turned bear now predicts Dow could hit 10,000 by year end
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Ralph Acampora is bullish again.
The fabled Prudential Securities technical analyst, who turned bearish on the market in August, is once again telling investors to buy stocks.
Minutes after the Dow Jones industrial average soared 214 points to a new record high of 9,374 Monday, Acampora was predicting the blue chip rally may not be over yet.
"With this kind of momentum, we've got a better than 50-50 [percent] chance of hitting 10,000 by the end of the year," he said, in an interview with CNNfn Interactive.
While insisting that he has not issued a new forecast, Acampora said he is telling his clients to "just buy stocks."
Making such a revision can't come easy to Acampora, who as recently as early October said the Dow could fall as low as 6,500. That was at a time when the Dow appeared unable to rally back from a stunning 19 percent drop in a six-week span that started in mid-July.
His pessimistic outlook, Acampora insisted, came before two of three recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve - which injected life back into stock markets.
"What changed? It was Greenspan," said Acampora.
The central bank has eased interest rates three times in the past two months in an aggressive effort to prevent the global economic crisis from hitting U.S. shores too hard.
On Oct. 8, in the midst of the stock market's severe correction, Acampora issued his most bearish forecast so far this year. A week later, the Fed instituted a surprise interest rate cut, sending stock markets around the world into a bull dance. Three days after that, the Prudential technician declared the "cyclical bear" market over, a view that was reinforced by the Fed's latest easing on Nov.17.
Another reason for Acampora's change of mind was the need for jittery investors to find a place for their money before the end of the year. During the Dow's summertime dip, investors found themselves taking huge chunks of cash out of the market for fear of a meltdown, cash that now seems to be looking for a new home back in the stock market, he said.
"There has been this realization that there is tons of money on the sidelines," Acampora said -- money he expects to get back into the game up through year-end.
Acampora got cold feet in early August, warning investors the market was poised for a correction. On the day he unveiled his change of position, the Dow sank 300 points - and many analysts pegged that drop, at least in part, to him.
Prior to his change of heart, Acampora was widely regarded as a raging bull on Wall Street and had predicted the Dow could hit 10,000 by the end of 1998. 
-- by staff writer Jamey Keaten
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