Stocks were mostly lower Thursday after a weaker-than-expected Philadelphia Federal Reserve report and talk of "stagflation" -- an environment of low growth and inflation. CNBC asked market experts where investors should place their bets in these uncertain market times.
Playing Tech Internationally
“Tech can be very volatile. And, we are playing it but we’re playing it as an international idea I you will. Also, an outsourcing idea to the extent that companies want to cut costs, outsource IT… They can look at an IBM to do that.”
- Scott Richter, Fifth Third Asset Management Portfolio ManagerEnergizing Your Portfolio
"We like the growth [at Core Laboratories] over the next several years. [The company] provides key technologies for recovering oil and gas from older fields as well as for helping to develop new oil and gas fields around the world."
- Evan Smith, Global Resources Fund Co-Manger
Smith recommends: Core Labs and Vale Do Rio Doce.
Hunting for Large-Cap Growth Stocks
"I prefer companies that are leveraged to the secular growth overseas, because I think that’s where the 'delta' is going to be in the worldwide economy, so large-cap growth stocks -- GE, United Technology, Automatic Data Processing – -that’s where the action is going to be. I think domestically a recovery will be strained by what’s going on in the credit sector, so you want to be where the real secular growth is and that’s overseas, but buy U.S. stocks, because U.S. stocks are the cheapest."
- Jim Awad, WP Stewart Asset Management Chairman
Awad recommends: General Electric , United Technology and Automatic Data Processing
Sectors on the Rise
"We have assumed overweight positions in financials, consumer discretionary, retail and transportation, so we think a lot of what we’re seeing right now is the markets discounting better economic activity, and even the metals, the mining and the energy stocks should be benefactors of that."
- Sean Clark, Clark Capital Management CIO