Pro: Market Strength May Hinge On Earnings Season

U.S. stocks are for the most part far removed from their all-time highs, but several days of mostly positive performance in the major indices has investors wondering if a rebound is sustainable. 

Earnings Season Is Key

The most important factor that will determine the fate of stocks in 2019 is the upcoming fourth-quarter earnings season, Sethi Financial Group's Rob Morgan told CNBC Friday. Other market concerns, most notably stemming from the Federal Reserve, eased after Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the policymaker isn't seeing any signs of an economic slowdown, Morgan said. 

Earnings season could come in "pretty good," with more earnings beats than expected, he said. 

Rebound Won't Last

After a "dramatic" selloff in stocks throughout December, it logically "makes sense" some sort of rebound would follow in the near-term, Lilian Chovin, multi-asset strategist at Coutts, separately told CNBC. Yet all of the headwinds that contributed to the selloff remain in place in 2019, he said. 

A notable concern for stocks is the widening of credit spreads, Chovin said. This trend not only increases cost of capital for companies, but has an impact on consumer's wealth, he said.

"I can completely see the impact of market selloffs on the real economy."

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