One of Wall Street's most prominent bulls is retiring

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February 10, 2017 1:50 PM

Abby Joseph Cohen, the president of Goldman's Global Market Institute, is retiring.

Abby Joseph Cohen.

Abby Joseph Cohen, the president of Goldman Sachs' Global Market Institute, is retiring.

Bloomberg's Dakin Campbell reported Friday that Cohen would step back from her management duties. But she's not leaving the investment bank completely; she will continue to advise investing clients and will stay on the committee that oversees Goldman's US retirement plans.

Cohen, 64, gained a reputation as one of the most bullish and accurate strategists on Wall Street. She forecast the stock market surge in the 1990s that preceded the dot-com bubble and advised clients to reduce their exposure to stocks right before the crash.

But like many colleagues, she didn't see the most recent financial crisis coming. As CNBC noted, Cohen's 2008 price target on the S&P 500 was a super-bullish 1,675. The market closed the year 46% below her target, at 903.25.

As stocks sold off in January 2016 after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, Cohen criticized the bearishness as an "emotional response." In an interview with Bloomberg, she put off concerns at the time of a US recession and said the economy would most likely continue to grow by about 2.5%.

Cohen joined Goldman Sachs in 1990 and was named a partner in 1998. Her career began at the Federal Reserve, where she worked as an economist.

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