Even if President Donald Trump doesn't get his agenda enacted, the market can still rise — but what investors should focus on will probably shift, expert David Waddell told CNBC on Monday.
"There isn't any reason for this market to tip into recession, so there's no reason for it to fall apart," the CEO of Waddell & Associates said in an interview with "Closing Bell."
Investors eager about Trump's promises of tax reform, deregulation and infrastructure spending helped push the market higher after the election, although equities have recently traded in a narrow range.
On Monday, stocks closed down, but well off their lows of the day.
Waddell said if there is "never ever" anything out of the Trump agenda, there could be stagflation, which means the combination of slow economic growth, high unemployment and high inflation.
"We really need the tax reform if we really want to do anything about unlocking more earnings and unlocking more economic growth," he noted.
If nothing happens, Waddell sees more of a shift to emerging markets, which would benefit from a neutral to weak dollar and the disparity in stock valuations.
He also thinks things like FANG stocks, technology, large-cap growth stocks, and utilities and high-dividend payers are also poised to do well in that environment.
That said, he's still invested as if the Trump agenda is happening, and that means value, small cap and financials.
Jack Bouroudjian, chief economist and co-founder of UCX, told "Closing Bell" thinks the market can still go up, it's just a question of whether there will be a 7 percent dip first.
"Either way you are going to see this administration and this Congress do something. It's only the question of the velocity of change and that will determine how fast we go up," he said.
Lisa Kopp, head of U.S. Bank's traditional investments group, is expecting a moderate growth rate environment. While she's cautious in the near term, she believes the U.S. equity market will end the year up.
However, she has been shifting her focus from the U.S. to European markets.
"You're just getting a little bit of a cyclical upswing with earnings and momentum … in Europe, and valuations there are fair and relatively reasonable," Kopp said in an interview with "Closing Bell."
— CNBC's Melody Myers contributed to this report.