History tells us stocks will continue to rise -strategist

STORY: The S&P 500 defied recession fears and a U.S. banking crisis to notch a 15.9% gain in the first half of 2023. The Nasdaq powered ahead 31.7% for its biggest first-half increase in four decades.

"The question could be, 'Gee, are stocks expensive at this point?'" continued Stovall. "And history says prices lead fundamentals - that usually prices go up in anticipation of the earnings improvement. And we usually see a 22% expansion in the price-to-earnings ratio when you compare the bear-market bottom with when the bull market was confirmed with a 20% advance - and that's pretty much what we saw this time around as well."