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Strategist warns of 'finite recovery' in US growth

It's not an endless bull market: Pro
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It's not an endless bull market: Pro

Investors should not expect much more than two more years of "above-trend growth" in the U.S. economy, Citi Private Bank Global Chief Strategist Steven Wieting told CNBC on Monday.

"I hear more and more that this is going to be an endless bull market that there are no cyclical downturns," he said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "I think the evidence we've had this year is that, in fact, we have a finite recovery."

Wieting predicted that the next U.S. recession will happen before the "decade is out."

"I don't have a problem with the equity market level per se, but the amount of confidence that we're in a smooth path has been a problem," he said, pointing to three international hot spots—Iraq, Ukraine, Gaza—as wildcards.

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In Iraq, U.S. airstrikes against Sunni Muslim extremists have helped Kurdish forces retake two towns near Irbil—the capital of the Kurdistan region. In Baghdad, Iraq's new president, Fouad Massoum, snubbed embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by asking the deputy speaker of parliament to form a new government.

Ukraine continued to press ahead with its military offensive against pro-Russian separatists in the east—mounting its most intensive artillery bombardment.

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In the Israeli-Hamas conflict, a new ceasefire in Gaza was holding Monday as negotiators for both sides headed to Cairo, Egypt, for indirect peace talks.

"These are things we don't look through. You had … concerns about Syria last year. We had a bit of of worry. We had Libya in 2011 that created some uncertainty," resulting in a 6 percent pullback, Wieting recalled.

In the near term, he said "the underlying story" for stocks remains intact. "Earnings are rising, bond valuations are very high and markets can make progress after this [international uncertainty]."

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—By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere