[Goldman Sachs: Raising interest rates will not stop the bull market in U.S. stocks] September 14th: When the Federal Reserve starts to raise interest rates, the stock market usually faces pressure, but Goldman Sachs expects the bull market to continue. Strategists led by Ben Snider said that rising interest rates are a negative factor for stock valuations, but corporate profits are still the most important driver of the stock market. Goldman Sachs said the S&P 500's forward price-to-earnings ratio has fallen from 22 times at the beginning of the year to 19 times now, but the index is still within 2% of its record high. The report pointed out that the market has reflected expectations of more than three interest rate hikes next year, and corporate profits and balance sheets are both strong. The report said that over the past few decades, the S&P 500 fell an average of 2% in the first three months of seven interest rate hike cycles, but rose 9% in the 12 months after the first rate hike.