One of Wall Street’s biggest bulls is on pullback watch.
The bearish call from Capital Wealth Planning’s Jeffrey Saut stems from one of his proprietary gauges.
“My very short-term trading indicator did flash a sell signal,” the firm’s chief investment strategist told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday. “We just on occasion try to make these tactical trading calls, and the market looks a little tired here.”
Saut, who’s a five-decade veteran of the Street and also runs Saut Strategy, expects that the S&P 500 could dip about 2% from current levels over the next couple of weeks.
“The pullback is probably going to be contained to the 2,930 to 2,950 level,” he added.
Even though it shouldn’t hurt long-term investors, Saut noted it could leave traders in a precarious spot. He recommended abstaining from taking long-term trading positions right now.
‘Be fairly fully invested here’
Saut’s not sure what could ultimately spark the decline, but he contends the bearish reading isn’t interfering with his long-term secular bull case.
“Secular bull markets tend to have three phases in them. I think we’re in the second phase. I think it began in February of 2016. It is always the longest and the strongest,” he said. “You should be fairly fully invested here even if you’re going to get a small wiggle on the downside.”
Saut still believes there’s at least seven years left in the bull market. He expects low interest rates coupled with stronger quarterly earnings to push the S&P 500 to at least 3,400 next year. That’s a 13% increase from current levels.
“I do not see a downturn coming. I do not see a recession coming,” Saut said. “Earnings are going to come in better than people think.”