Stocks could end the year higher despite slowing growth

Despite signs of slowing growth, one top strategist says the rally has more gas in the tank.

Transcript

00:00What is your outlook for the stock market as you think about this summer and the back half of the year?

00:05Yeah, I think the market is going to end the year higher.

00:07The question that most investors probably have is what drives that?

00:11And I know this was going to be the year where markets brought in,

00:14that we were going to see small caps in value do well.

00:17And that was really more based on an environment in which growth and inflation were pretty good combined.

00:26We're now in a slowing growth environment.

00:28Leading indicators are pointing low or sentiment weakening,

00:31which means you want to be back to higher quality, larger cap, mega cap.

00:36So the concentration everybody was worried about at the beginning of the year probably continues to persist with us.

00:42At some point, we'll get some policy easing and some reacceleration in activity,

00:48but that doesn't seem to be the story for the second half of the year.

00:51You think the market will be higher by year end? How much higher?

00:54I think you'll see a year where, I mean, it's not going to be a year where the market's up.

00:5825% like we saw back-to-back, but can we have high single digits or low double digits?

01:03Yeah, I don't see why not.

01:04The growth picture looks good.

01:06The rate picture's stable.

01:08Inflation expectations are contained.

01:10So, yeah, it's a backdrop.

01:12Again, I'd be much more worried if we were seeing breaks in the credit market, and we're just not.

01:16Okay.

01:17You