David Darst is chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management Group. He rightly predicted the S&P 500 would hit 1400 this year -- and he sees more to come for 20007 with the key index hitting 1525, thanks to stable inflation and interest rate environments.
In cnbc.com’s exclusive OUTLOOK '07 series, Darst spoke with CNBC’s Becky Quick about about wealth management, asset allocation and his market outlook for 2007.
“We’re looking for kind of a soft [economic] landing” in 2007, said Darst. He says real growth for this year will be 3.3%, and that Morgan Stanley analysts augur a minor slowdown to 2.9% for 2007. Inflation, too, should be a less bitter pill than many had feared: he foresees “high two, low three” percentage price rises.
In another big-picture view, he says, “We think the seven-year [market] out-performance is about to reverse – the seven-year itch is about to be scratched,” suggesting that the market won't perform as well in 2007.
“We like large-cap stocks, we like predictable growers. He points to “some of the beverage stocks, the tobacco growers,” said Darst,