$6,000,000,000,000 in Sidelined Cash Boosting Stock Market, Making Macro Data Less Important: Investor Tom Lee

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee says markets are getting a boost from $6 trillion that’s been sitting on the sidelines.

In a new interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Lee says that the massive amounts of liquidity at the ready may now be more relevant for determining whether markets remain in an uptrend than macroeconomic data.

“We’ve kind of been sort of fooled by seasonality because we thought markets would be hesitant before the elections and it’s October, but we’ve seen this market be incredibly resilient. So I’ve underestimated how strong this market’s been. I think it really shows macro data is becoming less important, and it’s now the fact that a lot of cash has been on the sidelines.

For the last two years, investors expected a recession, or many thought when the [Yield] curve un-inverts we’ve got a recession. But at the end of the day, there’s $6 trillion of cash on the sidelines, and October has turned out to be a great month.”

With markets showing continued strength, he suggests that money people were socking away under the expectation that a recession would hit may start returning to the stock market and send equities even higher.

“It feels like investors are under-invested in stocks. I think there’s people who’ve dreaded 2024 thinking this is the year we slip into a recession, and instead, and we’re seeing it with earnings, companies have been really resilient.”

Generated Image: Midjourney