$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$Since May, it has continued to rise, with a monthly increase of 4.8% in May. As of June 14th, the S&P 500 index closed at 5431.60 points, with a monthly increase of 2.92%.

As the index continues to rise, Wall Street's bigwigs are calling for higher and higher target prices. Evercore ISI's chief stock and quantitative strategist, Julian Emanuel, has raised his year-end expectations for the S&P 500 index to 6,000 points. Emanuel said that easing inflation and the AI boom will further boost the stock market.

On the inflation front, US May CPI rose 3.3% year-on-year, slightly lower than the previous and expected 3.4%, while US May PPI fell 0.2% month-on-month, the largest drop since October 2023, lower than the expected 0.1% and significantly lower than April's 0.5%.

In terms of AI, according to data compiled by EPFR Global and Bank of America, the technology sector of US stocks saw inflows of $2.1 billion last week, the highest level since March.

In addition, last Friday, Goldman Sachs strategist David Kostin's team raised its year-end forecast for the S&P 500 index from 5,200 points to 5,600 points, an increase of 7.7% in target price, citing similar reasons to Evercore ISI.

Kostin and his team said in a report to clients on Friday: "Our 2024 and 2025 earnings estimates remain unchanged, but the outstanding profit growth of the five large technology companies has offset the typical pattern of negative revisions to earnings forecasts."

This upward revision was made after Kostin reiterated his target of 5,200 points for the S&P 500 index a month ago, when he said there was no further room for growth in the U.S. stock market by the end of this December. During this period, the United States released cooler CPI and PPI data, and Wall Street generally expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at least twice this year, with U.S. stocks showing strong gains in recent days.

In the face of positive factors such as easing inflation and the AI boom, how to choose appropriate investment targets? Buffett believes that the passive investment model is very suitable for general investors, not only can save time researching stocks, but also have the opportunity to profit, suitable for investors who intend to deploy US stocks in the long term:

"I often recommend low-cost S&P 500 index funds, but only a few humble friends believe me. Hardly any of the rich investors, fund managers, or retirement funds have followed my advice. They politely thanked me, but then were persuaded by asset managers who charge high management fees, and choose other investment methods."

ETF index stock funds linked to the S&P 500 include$SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.US)$, $iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV.US)$ and $Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO.US)$.

Among them,$SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.US)$The first ETF in U.S. history was established in 1993, and it is also the largest ETF in the world. SPY has extremely high liquidity and huge daily trading volume, which makes it easy for investors to buy or sell, and the bid-ask spread is usually small, which is especially advantageous for large traders.

$iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV.US)$It is also an ETF issued by iShares, a subsidiary of BlackRock, which aims to track the performance of the S&P 500 index. IVV's expense ratio is around 0.03%, which is lower than SPY. Although IVV's liquidity is not as high as SPY, its average daily trading volume is still sufficient to meet the normal trading needs of most investors.

$Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO.US)$It is an ETF managed by the famous low-cost fund manager Vanguard, which also closely tracks the S&P 500 index. VOO's expense ratio is usually around 0.03%, which is a manifestation of Vanguard's long-standing low-cost investment strategy.

In addition, there are still a large number of index ETFs available for investors in the U.S. stock market, and mooers can click Market > ETF > U.S. Stocks > Index ETFs to view them~

Editor/Jeffy