US Markets

Bull market has 'climbed the perpetual wall of worry,' strategist Jim Paulsen says

Paulsen: This bull market climbed the 'perpetual wall of worry'
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Paulsen: This bull market climbed the 'perpetual wall of worry'

The bull market marked its eight-year anniversary on Thursday and for strategist Jim Paulsen, it's one that has "climbed the perpetual wall of worry."

While it may no longer be "hated," it's still highly suspect, he told CNBC on Thursday.

"It hasn't been so much from the get-go about buyers. It's been about the lack of sellers. Everyone sold in '08 and once they all got done, there was just marginal buyers [who] pushed this thing a lot higher," the chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management said in an interview with "Closing Bell."

Paulsen is predicting a "wild ride" ahead for the market. He thinks the "races up" toward around 2,600 before correcting, perhaps around 15 percent. The S&P may ultimately end the year near 2,350, he said.

Craig Hodges, CEO of Hodges Capital Management, thinks a 5 percent to 7 percent correction is on the cards.

However, with money flowing from stocks into bonds for the past 10 years, investors are going to need alternatives when the bond market has trouble, he told "Closing Bell."

Therefore, he thinks the next five years could be "tremendous" for stocks.

"We'll get sell-offs and we'll get setbacks," Hodges said. "We'll use those sell-offs to buy good companies on sale."

— CNBC's Crystal Lau contributed to this report.

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