With the U.S. debt ceiling crisis on the verge of being resolved, investor attention is returning to continued global economic weakness, particularly in Europe, Credit Suisse global strategist James Sweeney told CNBC Tuesday.
"We should be worried," he said. "There is a small chance of a pretty serious weakening of growth further from what we’ve had in the last six months."
Focusing on bonds, Sweeney said the "key thing for clients right now is protect yourself against a bigger shock in Europe," noting that 10-year bond yields in Italy are pushing above 6 percent. "That’s not sustainable," he said.
"You're getting into a situation in Europe that is pretty troubling," Sweeney said. "We had a deal [last month on bailing out Greece] that was supposed to put us in new territory, and it really hasn’t."
His advice? "Avoid Europe. You have had better numbers in Asia. Japan could be a good play shorter term. So could China," he said. In the long-term, "the U.S. is in better shape than Europe, as well."
In the same interview, Mark Luschini, Janney Montgomery Scott's chief investment strategist, told CNBC his stock picks to protect against global weakness are in large, multinational companies, including Johnson & Johnson , Wal-Mart Stores , Wisdom Tree Japan and Seimens.
These and other multinationals, whether based in the U.S. or not, are "selling around the world and are garnering terrific revenue and earnings growth from those fast-growing emerging markets" that are expected to grow by 6.5 percent over the next couple of years, Luschini said.
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Disclosures:
Disclosure information was not available for James Sweeney, Mark Luschini or their companies.