Is The US Stock Market Unhealthy?

The US stock market, as measured by the S&P 500, is up over 11% so far in 2014.  Coming after a 30% gain in 2013, this year’s positive returns have caught many professional investors off guard.  The US stock market is a market of skepticism.  It is a bull market that is unloved and considered by many to be complacent, “unhealthy,” and manipulated higher by unwarranted liquidity provided by the Federal Reserve.  These negative feelings are not without merit, but as a general matter stock indices are not quite as unhealthy as the most negative bears would have us believe.