Doug Cote is an investment manager at Voya Investment Management. He was a recent guest on CNBC's Thursday edition of "Squawk Box" to discuss what he describes as the "4 Cs" currently driving the market.
According to Cote, the four Cs are commodities, currencies, central banks and corporate earnings.
In terms of currencies, the declining U.S. dollar has taken some of the pressure of emerging markets but is now putting pressure on the euro and Japanese yen.
Moving on to commodities, the investment pro noted that the ongoing gain in oil prices is "really settling the market down."
Meanwhile, China's central bank introduced $1 trillion in a stimulus package in the first quarter, which also lifted commodity prices.
Finally, corporate earnings is a "red flag" for the fourth quarter in a row since 2009. Cote added that the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely paying the closest attention to this category and asking why earnings reports have been "so negative."
Gabriela Santos of JPMorgan Funds was also a guest on the segment and jumped in to offer her take on the "4 Cs." She argued that corporate earnings have been negative because of the pressure caused by the three other "Cs," namely commodities and the dollar.
Santos continued that both oil prices and the dollar appear to have stabilized, and "we will see that we have had a bottom in earnings in the first quarter and things are looking better."
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