While the stock market and the economy are about to slip, Goldman says that money will be king

Money is king. According to Goldman Sachs' strategists, 2019 is expected to generate mediocre returns on the stock markets, making the greenback the best match in the city.

"We expect the S & P 500 to deliver a modest-to-all absolute return in 2019. The risk-adjusted return will be less than half of the long-term average. Liquidity will be a competitive asset class for equities for the first time in many years, "Goldman analysts, led by David Kostin, wrote in a study published November 19.

Referencing a bull market approaching its 10th anniversary, which recorded double-digit gains in 2017 and repeated records for the Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, -2.21%

the S & P 500 index

SPX, -1.82%

and the Nasdaq composite index

COMP -1.70%

Goldman said "all good things must end."

Strategists echo a common market mantra: a deceleration of economic expansion and corporate profits will occur in 2019 as 2018 has generated stellar GDP and profits from corporate tax cuts in the United States. Trump administration and other business-friendly policies.

Lily: The boss of hedge funds who predicted a "crash in 1987" is ready to experience "really scary moments"

In addition to this, taking into account the risk associated with holding stocks, Goldman considers liquidity a better option. Investment banking analysts say that households, mutual funds, foreign investors and pension funds tend to have a cash allocation in the bottom percentile and that equity allocations tend to be place in the 89th percentile on a historical basis.

Goldman expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates four times in 2018, bringing the federal funds rate to a range of 3.25% to 3.5% by the end of 2019, 2% at 2.25% currently. In this environment, analysts see the Treasury's 10-year note

TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.42%

yield of 3.5% by the second half of 2019, which also translates into richer yields for short-term "treasury bills" and other money market financing.

Provide essential information for the US trading day. Subscribe to the free MarketWatch Need to Know newsletter. Register here.