Pros Say: If S&P Breaks 1,017 It'll Keep Rising

JeeYeon Park | @JeeYeonParkCNBC

Published 4:33 PM ET Thu, 6 Aug 2009 Updated 5:48 PM ET Mon, 2 Aug 2010 CNBC.com

Stocks pulled back Thursday after a higher open as Cisco dragged on the Dow. Earlier, the drop in jobless claims had spurred optimism about the recovery. The report showed initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 38,000 last week, much more than expected. The total number of people on unemployment benefits continued to rise, indicating that new layoffs are tapering off but job creation hasn't started to pick up yet. Read and listen to what the experts had to say...

Stock Market Has Bottomed

The stock market has bottomed and small caps have potential to outperform, said Stuart Schweitzer of JPMorgan Private Bank. He added that banks are now through the very worst of the credit crunch. “We’re not willing to bet the ranch on the idea that this is a sustainable recovery, but I think it’s a playable rally,” he said.

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S&P to Further Gain if it Breaks 1,017

There's a little bit of worry about this current rally with respect to whether it is built on solid foundations, said Clive Lambert of FutureTechs. He is "pretty bullish on this market" and sees the S&P 500 gaining further if it breaks above 1,017.

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Is Oil Demand Sustainable?

While oil imports are rising, demand hasn't really gone up, said Jason Feer of Argus Media. “If you look at the fundamental demand data, it shows a surprising amount of weakness,” he said. “If you look at China, which is the market where oil analysts are looking for a spike in demand, what you see is a large increase in import, but no increase in demand…So you’re still seeing a lot of inventory build.”

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Hiring Hopes and Woes

The job market is remarkably similar around the world, said Tig Gilliam of staffing company Adecco North America. “Some other countries hit much more dramatically than the U.S. has,” he said. “We’re still going to see unemployment increase 10 to 20 basis points and this is going to continue over the course of the rest of the year. But the fact that we’re losing jobs at a slower pace is a good sign.”

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Cracking the Credit Code

Mark Greene of Fair Isaac, the makers of the FICO credit score, said consumers are stabilizing and are doing a better job at paying off their bills, but we are still not out of the woodsand consumers’ access to credit is still quite constrained. He said 20 percent of Americans in the first half of the year had their credit lines decreased by credit card companies, much more than usual.