Goldman's Cohen Replaced as Chief S&P 500 Forecaster

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Abby Joseph Cohen, the second-most bullish Wall Street strategist at the start of the year, was replaced by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as the bank's chief forecaster for the U.S. stock market.

Cohen, 56, gave up the title of chief investment strategist and will no longer make predictions for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index in her new role as senior investment strategist, Goldman spokesman Ed Canaday said in an interview. David Kostin will make the calls as U.S. investment strategist.

Kostin, 44, said today he expects the benchmark index for U.S. stocks to fall 10 percent to 1,160 in the ``near term'' before rebounding to 1,380 by year's end. At the end of last year, Cohen predicted the S&P 500 would reach 1,675 in 2008.

``Sounds like it's a downgrade in a position,'' said Andy Engel, who helps manage $4.3 billion at Leuthold Weeden Capital Management in Minneapolis. ``People have been disappointed in her outlook over the years, and she's been pegged as overly bullish on the market.''

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