What's going on?

Investors may be in for a holiday treat: a report published on Monday forecasts that the final weeks of 2019 will be full of cheer for the US stock market.

What does this mean?

The US market�s done well recently: an easing of US-China trade tensions sent stocks to a record high last week. And investment bank Evercore thinks that rise will continue: it believes stock prices will increase even further as a mooted reduced tariffs becomes more likely. Evercore also reckons the US economy is healthier now than six months ago � and with analysts� estimates for companies� future profit rising, stocks could rise 2% higher than currently (tweet this).

Evercore�s not the only bank feeling toasty. Last week, JPMorgan and Citigroup both recommended buying riskier assets � and Goldman Sachs predicted the party would continue into 2020, with a further 10% gain in US stocks up for grabs.

Why should I care?

For markets: Growth, not gold.

According to Goldman, �growth� stocks � those with fast-growing revenues and profits � do well when economic growth is between 0-3%. Given economic growth last quarter was 2%, the bank thinks we�re in the perfect environment for growth stocks to, erm, grow. It�s particularly keen on those which pay high dividends, thinking they�re undervalued by almost a third. Other analysts think smaller US companies could also benefit: their domestic focus insulates them from trade drama, but they�ll still reap rewards if tariffs are lifted and the economy grows. It�s bonds and precious metals (like gold) which investors will likely sell in order to buy stocks.

For you personally: Hold steady.

If you�ve got a portfolio that�s balanced across stocks and bonds, you probably don�t need to do anything different to profit from this � or from the inevitable swing back towards safety when a slowdown does come. But you do need to make sure you rebalance regularly: selling off some of your high-flying stocks if they start to make up too much of your portfolio.