Shut Out 'Noise,' Focus On Long Term: Abby Joseph Cohen

CNBC

Abby Joseph Cohen

Inflation and interest rates are as low as they can go, Goldman Sachs strategist Abby Joseph Cohen told CNBC Wednesday.

"I believe we’ve seen the bottom of inflation, I believe we’ve seen the bottom of interest rates," Cohen said. "But that doesn’t mean we’re about to see a dramatic upward step anytime soon."

U.S. economic data is currently "a little bit messy," she said, but in the long term "we believe the U.S. economy is growing. We don’t see a recession anywhere on the horizon."

Focusing on long-term company fundamentals and economic news "always trumps the short-term noise" of current events, Cohen said.

"I’m not saying to be blind to short-term news, but not to over-react to it," she said.

For instance, she said, Japan "is looking to be an attractive opportunity for long-term equity investors," she said.

"It’s very clear that GDP growth (in Japan) has been notably impeded, and of course those supply chains disruptions could have an impact in other countries as well," she said. "But we do think that economic growth in Japan will step up, particularly as the reconstruction moves on."

She also thinks Japanese stocks are undervalued because the Japanese stock market is "currently pricing in news that is uglier than we think will likely transpire over the coming months and quarters."