Faber Says S&P 500 May Rise to 1,000 on Bank Earnings (Update3)

By Rita Nazareth and Ken Prewitt

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may rise 17 percent to 1,000 in the next three months as government spending boosts bank profits, investor Marc Faber said.

U.S. stocks probably reached their bear market low when the S&P 500 fell to 666.79 during trading on March 6, Faber, who publishes the Gloom, Boom and Doom report, told Bloomberg Radio in an interview from Thailand.

Financial shares may increase further after the S&P 500 Banks Index jumped 25 percent on April 9, the biggest rally since at least 1989. Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among more than 30 S&P 500 companies scheduled to announce results this week.

“You have essentially a government that gives financials free money at the expense of the taxpayer,” Faber said. “With this free money, they may actually have decent earnings in the near future.” (more)