'You Can't Go Wrong': Stocks Still Cheap, James Altucher Says

Stocks jumped Thursday thanks to a strong second-quarter GDP report and another drop in oil prices.

The rally left the Dow up 213 points at 11,715, within striking distance of a weekly (and monthly) close above its 200-week simple moving average of 11,740 and (possibly) its Aug. 11 high of 11,867, notes veteran market watcher Richard Suttmeier. The proximity of such key technical demarcation makes Friday more important than a typical pre-holiday session. (How Dell's after-hours disappointment factors into tomorrow's trading remains, of course, to be seen.)

But James Altucher, managing director of Formula Capital, is looking beyond such short-term technical indicators and seeing a stock market that, to him, is a screaming buy.

Mega-caps like Microsoft, GE and ExxonMobil are trading with P/Es below that of the S&P 500, which itself Altucher says has not fully adjusted to the drop in oil prices. (The last time oil was trading around $115, the index was 10% higher, he notes.)

Altucher also believes the housing crisis and subprime news is "baked in" to the market. The fund manager and author shares some of his favorite individual names in the accompanying video but declares "you can't go wrong," with a basket of stocks as a long-term investor.

Disclosures and disclaimers:

• Altucher's comments came prior to Thursday's rally and reaffirmed his "everything is cheap" view from mid-July.
• Critics say Altucher is perennially bullish and has been too optimistic throughout this year; Altucher would (probably) counter that he is looking at the market from the perspective of a long-term investor seeking value - ala Warren Buffett - vs. a short- or (even) intermediate-term trader.
• Altucher has no positions in the stocks mentioned, but investing in big-cap stocks is not his bent, as discussed in the video.