You might try your hand at timing the stock market after you see this chart

collected by :Haron Adler

referring to Batnick's takeaway: "So maybe you should time the market, just make sure you're right."Therein lies the rub, of course. While there's a whole universe of examples of why market timing is dangerous, Batnick cherry-picked an especially telling one from 2013. As you can see from the chart, stocks were approaching record highs and valuations were peaking. The previous two times those lofty levels were reached, the stock market proceeded to crash more than 50%. "Waiting for a better pitch is always tempting, but timing the market is notoriously difficult, even for the shrewdest investors," he wrote.

Here's why Gary Cohn says the stock market is sluggish this year

Getty Images Gary Cohn during his tenure as director of the White House National Economic Council directorPresident Donald Trump's former top economic adviser on Tuesday tied recent stock market jitters to fresh uncertainty on Wall Street over U.S. economic policy. In 2017, the stock market was up over 20% while tax cuts were enacted, said the former director of the National Economic Council. "This year we have earnings growth up over 20% and the stock market is flat," he said. "You are starting to see a little of those [inflation] worries trickle in," Cohn said. "We are just starting to see taxes affect corporate earnings," Cohn said.

The stock market is shrinking and that's a good thing, private equity honchos say

as mentioned in At the top of the list of top fundraisers, Apollo took in $24.6 billion last year, and the firm manages a total of $69 billion in private equity assets. Black said that taking a public company private is a natural step in the business life cycle and gives companies a chance to implement initiatives without increased regulatory or public scrutiny. The flood of cash into private equity, however, has attracted the criticism of federal regulators, especially as managers look to foreigners for cash. Private equity executives often say their ownership of private companies creates a better relationship between owners and management compared with publicly traded companies, where managers may hold a very small amount of the company's stock, and so their incentives aren't necessarily aligned with other stakeholders. "That fundamental difference in alignment is why I think the private equity model is going to continue to gain momentum."

Here's what tax reform, so far, has meant for the stock market and the economy

Now that the dust is starting to settle, what kind of report card does tax reform deserve? "To the extent we had exuberance about the tax bill between November and January, our view is now much more guarded. Among notable examples, Apple Inc. AAPL, +1.42% last week announced a $100 billion buyback program and raised its dividend by 16%. New York Fed President William Dudley said it would be "shocking" if the tax bill didn't boost business spending, and that the only question was "how much" it would rise by. The net result is lower margins, particularly since the tax benefit is 100% 'below the line.'"Between Dec. 21, the last trading day before the tax bill was signed into law, and the close of trading on Tuesday, the S&P 500 SPX, +0.84% is down 0.5%.