It's a 'Wonderful Time' to Be in Stocks: Chief Investor

Stocks struggled Wednesday as the prospect of the Fed resuming Treasury purchases to boost the economy countered a disappointing report on private sector hiring. Scott Billeadeau, managing director at Fifth Third Asset Management and Kent Croft, CIO and portfolio manager at Croft Value Fund discussed their insights.

“It’s a wonderful time to be in the stock market and implement a long-term low turnover tax efficient strategy with good dividend yields,” Croft told CNBC. (Scroll down for his full picks.)

Croft added he expects market volumes to pick up as investors look for good valuations.

In the meantime, Billeadeau is bullish on the markets.

“The P/E [ratio] on the S&P 500 is near all time lows, balance sheets are at the best they’ve ever been and with the cost structures and margin opportunities, it doesn’t take more than 2 percent GDP growth to have significantly better earnings going forward,” he explained.

Billeadeau said he favors companies with unique business models.

Croft Likes:

Johnson & Johnson

Lowe’s

Weyerhaueser

Billeadeau Likes:

Tenneco

Akorn

Cardtronics

Scorecard—What They Said:

  • Billeadeau's Previous Appearance on CNBC (Sept. 2, 2010)
  • Croft's Previous Appearance on CNBC (Oct. 4, 2010)

More Market Intelligence:

CNBC Data Pages:

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Disclosures:

No immediate information was available for Billeadeau or Croft.

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Disclaimer