The stock market rally has gotten a bit "long in the tooth" and could pull back 3 percent to 5 percent after the New Year, expert David Schiegoleit told CNBC on Thursday.
That could present a "fantastic buy-on-the-dip opportunity," the managing director of investments at The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank said in an interview with CNBC's "Closing Bell."
"If you do see a pullback like that, it would be short-term in nature, and I think the pain would actually come in the sectors that did the best since the election," like financials, telecom and industrials, he said.
Schiegoleit anticipates the yield curve will continue to steepen at a measured pace. That will help out banks and is a signal of increasing economic activity across the board, he noted.
Ross Gerber, CEO and president of Gerber Kawasaki, is also bullish on the market for 2017.
"I don't think we can ask for better confluence of things happening to push earnings higher — from corporate tax reform to obviously tax cuts potentially for the wealthy, as well as just a stronger economy and now higher rates, which are helping the financials. We also have higher oil prices," he told "Closing Bell."
He thinks investors "absolutely" have to be in financials heading into the New Year.
"They are going to have a phenomenal year because this is the ultimate dream scenario," he predicted.
The market has been rallying since President-elect Donald Trump's victory on Nov. 8. The Dow Jones industrial average came close to hitting 20,000 in recent days, but has since pulled back.
Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners, would like to just get Dow 20,000 "over with" so investors can focus back on the real fundamentals of the market.
He's anticipating a pullback once the index hits the milestone, although he doesn't think it will be significant.
"It will give investors a little time to clear things off, get a focused mind and really get into the first quarter," Corpina told "Closing Bell."
Sarah Hunt, portfolio manager at Alpine Funds, is also expecting a pause at the beginning of the year.
"You run up into the end of the year, you've got the big Santa Claus rally and then you get to January and everybody goes, 'Oh, my goodness. We have a whole year. We don't really know what's going to happen. We've got all these things that we think were promised and we're not sure what we're going to get,'" she said.
Stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow ending at 19,819.78.