A Wait-and-See Approach for Stocks

With institutional money moving out of the market, it's a good time for investors to take a breather, Joe Terranova of Virtus Investment Partners said Thursday.

"I really believe what's gone on here is a lot of the passive money that's been in the market over the course of five months, that institutional flow, has come out," he said.

"You're seeing a lot of short-term trading right now, a lot of high-frequency trading taking over the markets. I just think it's a period where you have to have a wait-and-see mentality."

On CNBC's "Fast Money," Terranova noted that despite the recent declines, the stock market was up 45 percent year over year, as well as higher year to date.

"We're still up 20 percent," he added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced midday, gaining above 15,000, after logging its first three-day losing streak this year in the previous session. he S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also rose.

(Read More: Stocks Tick Higher, Dow Above 15000; COTY Dips)

Josh Brown of Fusion Analytics said that the market activity was no reason to panic.

"You're seeing a rolling correction across sectors," he added. "It's not something that's scaring traders yet."

Brown also said that 1,600 in the S&P 500 was becoming much more important from technical and psychological perspectives.

(Read More: 'These Are Very Scary Times,' Dennis Gartman Says)

"Clearly, the news out of Asia and emerging markets are now driving the action here," he said. "That's a sea change from what we saw the first five months of the year, as we talked about earlier this week. And I think that's still in force."

TheStreet CIO Stephanie Link said that there was still opportunity in the market.

"We have been picking at selective sectors," she added. "I would just say, yes, volatility is here to stay, really because we don't get corporate earnings for another three or four weeks. So, we're at the mercy of the emerging markets and Japan and even the Fed talk of taper."

Link remained positive on a longer-term basis.

"I still believe in the second half of the year you're going to see a little bit of an improvement in that regard, which is why I want to buy the dips and why I want to buy those sectors," she said.

OptionMonster's Jon Najarian said that he was focused on housing, specifically names such as Lennar, Whirlpool, Masco and Ryland.

(Read More: REITs Roaring on Rising Rates: Pro)

"These stocks have been hammered hard over the last month," he said. "I think things like that are overdone."