To be sure, this bottom-up number is notably more optimistic than the median from investment-bank forecasts collected by MarketWatch, which stands at 7,500. That would represent an advance of about 9% from Friday’s close of about 6,930 — roughly in line with the S&P 500’s average calendar-year return, between 1950 and 2024, of 9.5%. Of the official forecasts collected by MarketWatch, only the most bullish equity strategists on Wall Street expect the index to finish next year at 8,000.Yet analysts across Wal ...