Stocks opened mixed after several earnings reports beat expectations but economic numbers missed their targets. Dan Genter, president, CEO and CIO of RNC Genter Capital Management, and Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management, shared their market outlooks. (See Genter's stock and sector picks, below.)
“Earnings reports are coming out better than expected, but we also think that the investing climate is continuing to climb a wall of worry,” Gayle told CNBC.
“Last quarter, our wall of worry started at the bottom of the income statement, with bottomline earnings that was 'less worse' than expected. Now that attention is gravitating up the income statement. We’re looking for numbers that are less worse on the revenue side and so far they’re turning out okay.”
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Gayle said the economy is currently in the recovery portion and the layoffs and cost cuts will begin to stabilize.
“We think there is going to be a transition from that recovery period to a slow expansion period,” he said. “So I’m looking for some job additions as we go through the first part of 2010.”
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In the meantime, Genter said earnings are not only doing well, but there are also increases in revenue on the topline as well.
"Right now, these companies are running so lean that all they need is moderate growth and they’re going to have significant margin expansion,” he said.
Genter said he continues to favor the technology and health care sectors. He likes Johnson & Johnson and Teva .
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Disclosures:
No immediate information was available for Gayle or Genter.
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