stocks

‘Something’ out of Washington will push market much higher, two experts say

Key Points
  • "People are positioned around the world in terms of U.S. equities for nothing to happen out of Washington," Brian Belski of BMO Capital Markets said Monday on "Squawk on the Street."
  • "So if something does happen, one or two things happen, the markets are going a lot higher," he said.
BMO Capital's Brian Belski: Companies are actually in good shape
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BMO Capital's Brian Belski: Companies are actually in good shape

Stocks have done well this year.

According to two experts, any good news out of Washington will push them even higher.

"People are positioned around the world in terms of U.S. equities for nothing to happen out of Washington," Brian Belski, a strategist at BMO Capital Markets, said Monday on "Squawk on the Street." "So if something does happen, one or two things happen, the markets are going a lot higher."

Jack Caffrey, equity portfolio manager at JPMorgan Private Bank, also on "Squawk on the Street," agreed, saying policy changes could stand as a "potential positive in the back half of this year."

Both experts also mentioned earnings as one of the factors pushing equities high this year, with Belski even saying "stocks should actually be rewarding earnings a little bit more."

Caffrey said this season's earnings beating their estimates by 5 percent on average so far as another reason behind the recent surge in the stock market.

Belski and Caffrey also spoke about a potential pullback, one some analysts are wary of in the face of continued gains in the stock market.

Belski noted that while "everyone is looking for that magical 20 percent pullback" as the right time to invest, he said BMO would be "all over" a 5 percent pullback.

Caffrey was more skeptical, saying a 20 percent pullback usually means a drop in earnings, meaning people won't want to buy then and will be more worried about "the next recession being very much on their minds."

Disclaimer

Watch: JPM's Caffrey says don't 'chase your tail' on market blips

Good news on earnings so don't 'chase your tail' on market blips: JPMorgan's Jack Caffrey
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Good news on earnings so don't 'chase your tail' on market blips: JPMorgan's Jack Caffrey