Stocks opened higher on Tuesday, but disappointing results from Citigroup and TD Ameritrade raised concerns about the financial sector as earnings season gets into full swing this week. What should investors expect from markets? Bob Doll, vice chairman and global chief investment officer of equities at BlackRock, shared his insights.
“Earnings will be quite good—the question is, will they be better than expectations by enough to push the market higher?” Doll told CNBC.
Doll said the markets expect earnings bottomline to be good, but there needs to be more evidence of topline growth for stocks to sustain a move upwards in the next few weeks. However, he believes this will be the case.
"There will be more revenue improvement in the fourth quarter reports than there were in the third, than there were in the second—so the progression is in the right direction," he said.
Meanwhile, voters in Massachusetts will be electing a new senator on Tuesday, which could derail Democrats' dominance in Washington and scuttle their top priority of sweeping health care reform. Regardless of the outcome, Doll said the election result will give stability to the markets.
“Markets hate all the uncertainty created from 'we don’t know what legislation’s going to be...' [so] it’s got to be a positive for the markets and that will help,” he said.
- Watch Doll's Previous Appearance on CNBC (Jan. 12, 2010)
______________________________
More Market Point/Counterpoint:
- Market Tips: Real Carry Trade Is in Credit
- Charts: Dow Set to Move Down to 9,350
- We Are in V-Shaped Recovery, Stay in Stocks: Strategist
______________________________
CNBC Data Pages:
______________________________
CNBC Slideshows:
______________________________
______________________________
CNBC's Companies in the News:
Citigroup
- Citigroup Posts Loss as Credit, TARP Charges Take Toll
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs Delays London Bonus Announcement
AIG
AIG Examining Different Ways to Repay Bonuses
Kraft
Cadbury
Cadbury Accepts Kraft's Sweetened Takeover Bid
______________________________
Disclosures:
No immediate information was available for Doll or his firm.
______________________________
