The Sunny(er) Side

Mostly, it's a pretty gloomy outlook here. But sometimes, you hear from those who have a sunnier disposition, at least relatively speaking.

Sir Martin Sorrell of the WPP Group is one of those folks.

Just finished taping an interview with Sir Martin where he said that while this downturn is severe, he expects things to look quite a bit better by the second half. (Again, relatively speaking.)

Companies these days talk about how there is no "visibility" out there -- meaning they don't know where business trends are headed.

Sir Martin says there is plenty of visibility for advertising and media companies ... They just don't like what they see.

But he also says that while companies aren't buying ads well in advance like they do in flush times, he expects many will pony up in the end.

He also comments on the conundrum facing the banks and auto companies that have taken tax dollars ... And whether or not they will be able to spend some of that money on advertising.

We'll air his thoughts on that on Squawk later this morning, at 6:45 am Eastern time. Check it out!