Facts in the Face of Fear: This Market Is Not Overvalued

From the Desk of Don Yocham:

They say the markets climb a wall of worry, and boy did 2021 give it plenty of footholds.

The traps of WWIII seem to have been set in Taiwan and Ukraine.

Containers piled up sky-high in ports while lines of ships stretched well past the horizon.

Shelves laid bare.

Energy costs soared — heck, the price of nearly everything soared.

And waves of Greek-labeled COVID-strains swept the globe while President Biden did all he could to make it harder for people clinging desperately to the right to choose to earn a living.

Despite all this worrisome noise, the S&P 500 still managed to post the third-highest annual return this century, ending the year up nearly 27% into record territory yet again. Which, understandably, has led to cries of "overvaluation" and "eminent market crash."

But noise is just that — noise. It clouds our vision. It limits our perspective.

And when I need to broaden my perspective, facts are the first place I look…