Joseph Sterling
Portfolio Manager
American Century Investment Management Inc.
A: No
This is not a sustainable market rally. We’re probably in what one would consider a bear market rally. These types of rallies are not usually over until you retest the lows. Before you can see the market bounce back to permanent recovery, you will have to see some positive conclusion from the things the Administration is doing with the banks. You will probably have to see the Federal Reserve start to drain some of the aid in liquidity that they have put into the system. You have to see if the markets’ appetite for risk comes back. Another good sign is when the credit markets start to function more smoothly. Once all that happens, you can point to a stronger economic condition which would bode well for the market going forward.
Where Sterling sees opportunities for investors: Energy, gas, and electric utilities