According to the Zhī Tōng Finance APP, Marko Kolanovic, the chief market strategist and well-known Wall Street bear who worked at JPMorgan for 19 years, is expected to leave his post to search for 'other opportunities' before the US Independence Day holiday. Kolanovic himself has not responded to any media inquiries, nor has he updated his LinkedIn page.

Generally speaking, an unwritten rule among the major Wall Street banks is not to lay off employees on Fridays or holidays in order to avoid a greater negative impact on employee morale. Instead, layoffs are typically conducted on Mondays through Thursdays (avoiding holidays) to give employees who are dismissed time to handle related matters and seek career counseling, psychological support, or new job opportunities before the weekend.

At this point in time, the news of Kolanovic's departure is enough to make people's minds wander. What kind of huge contradiction caused this 43-year-old veteran of Little Mo to not even get a dignified 'farewell' in the end?

The US stock market has been soaring this year, breaking new highs almost every day in recent weeks. The charts of the three major indices are like a sharp sword. Although Kolanovic was not 'stabbed', the psychological pressure on his client base may not be as strong as that of this physics PhD.

Adhering to his original intention, Kolanovic reiterated his target point last week, giving a year-end target for the S&P 500 index of 4200 points, the lowest among the major Wall Street banks. The index closed at 5147.21 points on July 3, 2024, which means that in order to achieve its target point, the S&P 500 index needs to fall more than 18%.

In addition, Kolanovic does not recommend that his clients invest in stocks, especially overvalued technology stocks. If you must buy, buy defensive stocks that are stronger, such as Coca-Cola (KO.US) and Walmart (WMT.US).

Let's take a look at Coca-Cola, whose stock has risen 9.17% this year, and Walmart, whose stock has risen nearly 31%. At first glance, investing in stocks according to Kolanovic's advice is not bad. However, there is no harm in comparison. Nvidia (NVDA.US), which has dominated the screen in recent years, has risen 783% in the past two years and nearly 160% so far this year. If you had invested $1,000 in Nvidia five years ago, that investment would be worth $310,000 this year, enough to buy a used BMW in the United States.

Most of Kolanovic's clients are large institutional investors, hedge funds, wealth management companies, and high-net-worth individuals, in short, the wealthy. Naturally, their investment amounts will be much higher than $1,000. If it were you, seeing that you missed this opportunity, and receiving advice that the US stock market is going to fall, can you not have any objections in your heart?

At present, there is no news indicating that JPMorgan plans to modify the target point of the S&P 500 index after Kolanovic's departure. But Little Mo seems to have figured out what its clients like to see. The bank announced his successor, Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, who favors large growth stocks and will become the new chief market strategist.