S&P Equity Discusses Economic and Equity Outlook on Webinar

NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The recovery from the economic recession is likely to be slow and uneven, and an even deeper and longer recession is possible if the financial markets lock up again, oil prices jump, or consumers remain scared, it was said today at a webinar for financial advisors and investors sponsored by Standard & Poor's Equity Research.  In addition to an economic forecast, S&P equity strategists provided their fundamental and technical analyses for the outlook for the equity markets.

"It is too soon to tell if this correction has run its course," said Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist at Standard & Poor's.  "But when the pilot says 'Fasten your seatbelts, we are approaching turbulence,' travelers just don't grab their parachutes and bail out."  Stovall said the same holds true for equity markets today.  "We are in the traditionally weak period for stocks—the two middle quarters of a president's second year in office.  However, some investors forget that the three best quarters of the 16-quarter presidential cycle come immediately thereafter."  

Alec Young, S&P's International Equity Strategist, added, "We believe overseas equities offer good long-term value as recent declines have made valuations and yields more attractive.  However, trading should remain choppy in the near-term as European sovereign risk and Chinese growth fears have receded, but not disappeared."

Young said that S&P favors emerging market equities within the international space due to a stronger secular growth outlook and lower valuations.  As for the developed international asset class, Young favors Canada, Japan, and Germany.

S&P's Chief Technical Strategist Mark Arbeter feels a short to intermediate term bottom has been traced out by the major indices, so that there may be higher prices into the summer months.  "The longer term stock market is in question as the latest correction has caused a fair amount of technical damage.  Emerging markets have led global indices off their corrective lows, a bullish sign if it continues.  The U.S. Dollar is peaking from an intermediate-term perspective, but we think the dollar is tracing a long-term bottom.  Gold should continue to outperform the majority of assets and we could see some type of blowoff move later this year or in 2011."

"Whether the outlook is cloudy or clear, S&P recommends investors look to quality of past and projected earnings when selecting investment opportunities," concluded Stovall.

Similar complimentary webinars will be held on September 28th and December 15th of this year.  For further information, contact [email protected].  

Standard & Poor's equity research, mutual fund, exchange-traded fund and bond research can be found on MarketScope® Advisor, Click Here http://advisor.marketscope.com. More information on Standard & Poor's MarketScope Advisor is available by calling 1-877-219-1247. MarketScope Advisor is part of the Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services family of products. MarketScope Advisor provides financial advisors with actionable investment intelligence on multiple asset classes including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, variable annuities, fixed income and workflow tools that enable advisors to stay connected to the market and their investments.

Standard & Poor's equity and fund research draws from the award-winning STARS coverage and Stock Reports, including detailed financial information, such as valuation models, sector and peer group analysis, and proprietary Standard & Poor's metrics such as Fair Value and Quality Rankings, on over 1,500 U.S.-listed equities, used by market professionals.

About Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services

As the world's largest producer of independent equity research, Standard & Poor's licenses its research to global institutions for their investors and advisors.  Standard & Poor's team of experienced U.S., European and Asian equity analysts use a fundamental, bottom-up approach to assess a global universe of multi-asset class securities across industries worldwide.  Follow Standard & Poor's equity analysts' U.S. market commentary each day at http://www.equityresearch.standardandpoors.com/.

The equity research reports and recommendations provided by Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services are performed separately from any other analytic activity of Standard & Poor's. Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services has no access to non-public information received by other units of Standard & Poor's.  Standard & Poor's does not trade for its own account.  The analytical and ethical conduct of Standard & Poor's equity analysts is governed by the firm's Research Objectivity Policy, a copy of which may also be found at www.standardandpoors.com or by clicking here.

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's Financial Services, LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data.  With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions.  For more information, visit www.standardandpoors.com.

Disclosures

Back testing has inherent limitations.  The returns shown in the report do not represent the results of actual trading of investor assets and do not reflect payment of any sales charges or fees an investor would pay to purchase the securities they represent. The imposition of these fees and charges would cause actual and back tested performance to be lower than the performance shown.  Past performance is not an indication of future results.

SOURCE Standard & Poor's