What's going on?

Investment bank analysts are the most positive about stocks they�ve been in almost 20 years, and their enthusiasm could prove infectious.

What does this mean?

As things stand, around 56% of analysts� ratings on US S&P 500 stocks are �buys� � the highest percentage since 2002. In the Stoxx Europe 600 index, meanwhile, some 52% of recommendations are buys. That�s a 10-year high, but it�s nothing compared to Asia: 75% of all analysts� recommendations there advocate buying as bullishness reaches levels unseen since at least 2010.

Analysts could be forgiven for fancying stocks� chances: second-quarter company earnings are proving even more positive than expected, governments have extended economic support packages, and low interest rates seem unlikely to disappear anytime soon. That�s feeding through to increased targets for stock markets overall: the average strategist now expects US stocks to sit 11% higher in a year�s time, European stocks 9% higher, and Asian stocks 21% higher (tweet this).

Why should I care?

For markets: Monday could have been a blip.

After last year�s lockdowns, this year�s second-quarter earnings growth was always going to be historically high. But analysts are also pretty optimistic about the quarters to come. That may be why they didn�t balk at Monday�s slight S&P 500 drop, which came as new data showed weaker-than-expected Chinese retail sales. With the global economy heavily reliant on China for growth, investors would prefer to see the country�s consumers spending on all cylinders.

For you personally: It doesn�t pay to say �sell� on Wall Street.

Investment bank analysts are famously upbeat in their stock recommendations. While independent, the analysts� employers do a lot of business with these companies � and an outright unfavorable opinion could see banks lose out on lucrative deals. Some investors therefore treat �neutral� or �hold� recommendations for stocks as �sells�: after all, that may be about as negative as an analyst is willing to go.