During fall of 2011 while stocks were tumbling and economic data were deteriorating, he went full contrarian and cranked up his price target on the S&P 500. Some speculated this led to his ouster from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Today, it's hard to argue that he's more
In a new note to clients, Bianco reiterates his call for the S&P 500 to hit 1,850 in 2014, a forecast he first made in June.
1,850 is the lowest target of the 12+ Wall Street strategists followed by Business Insider.
"We think the S&P likely stays within +/- 5% range from 1800 for the next several months as investors watch EPS and interest rate trends," wrote Bianco. "We expect 2014 to be a year of normal EPS growth, normal PEs, normal total returns, but also normal volatility. Normal volatility includes at least one S&P 500 price dip of 5% -9.9%. Since 1960, the only years when the S&P didn't suffer a 5%+ dip were 1964, 1993 & 1995. We see low risk of a correction when less than 1850."
This is not to say Bianco is a bear. He expects the S&P 500 to reach 2,000 by 2015. But he's "uncertain" about the direction of the market's next 5% move.