Doll: Growth to Be Subpar, But Stocks Should Rise

In Consuelo Mack’s latest WealthTrack interview, Blackrock’s Bob Doll says he sees subpar growth on the horizon for the U.S. — but rising equity prices as well.

Doll, vice chairman and global chief investment officer for equities at Blackrock, says he expects real GDP growth of 3% to 4% for the rest of 2009, but only 2% to 3% real growth in 2010 — quite low for a recovery. But he also says that cyclical positives are currently trumping secular concerns in the stock market right now, and he expects that to continue for the foreseeable future. Doll expects higher-than-expected corporate earnings in the third quarter, and says there’s no mistake that we are in a recovery.

Doll says Blackrock generally likes emerging markets over developed markets, but that, within the developed world, the U.S. should lead because of the extreme measures it has taken to stimulate the economy. While “junk” has lead much of the recovery, he’s high on high-quality stocks moving forward.

Also in the interview, Tom Montgomery of Bridgeway Capital Management talks about why he’s very high on Aflac right now, and Tom Petrie, vice chairman at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, discusses where oil prices are heading.