Tech & Policy Fuel Bold Market Forecast

An ‘Unreasonable Rally’ Is Brewing, Fueled by Tech Breakthroughs and Fiscal Shifts

Tuesday’s hotter-than-expected inflation reading barely slowed Wall Street’s momentum—stocks pushed higher anyway. For James Thorne, chief market strategist at Wellington-Altus, that’s just the start. In a new report, he sets a bold target: the S&P 500 hitting 7,500 by next spring—a 16% jump from Tuesday’s close. It’s a forecast that matches Ed Yardeni’s long-term goal for 2026 and channels the optimism of Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.

Thorne, a crypto advocate, praised the recent passage of the Genius Act regulating stablecoins, along with the still-pending Clarity Act, which would split crypto oversight between the SEC and CFTC.

“Blockchain and digital assets aren’t speculative bubbles—they’re the rails of the digital economy,” Thorne says. “With strong regulation, audits, and global standards, these technologies have earned institutional and public trust.”

He calls the current run “America’s unreasonable rally,” driven by fiscal transformation, rapid technological change, and a revival of pragmatic innovation. June’s rare budget surplus, he argues, undercuts the bond market’s doom narrative—though July’s $291 billion deficit shows the red ink isn’t gone.

“When the dire predictions fail, the skeptics just move the goalposts,” Thorne says. “If it’s not deficits, it’s inflation; if not inflation, it’s regulation or geopolitics. Wall Street has a cottage industry of Cassandras.”

While he didn’t address July’s CPI directly, Thorne noted that three-month annualized inflation sits at 2.3%, suggesting the Fed should consider a 50 bps rate cut.

He sees current White House policies as a “system reboot” for the economy, with the recent tariff rollbacks marking the start of a historically bullish four-year cycle. In this environment, he calls gold and bitcoin “foundational” portfolio assets and urges investors to increase exposure to leaders in AI, blockchain, tokenization, digital infrastructure, industrials, and financials.

“A political cycle reset, bullish market setup, and blockchain innovation are converging,” he says. “This is a generational opportunity—and those who adapt will be the winners.”