The bear market could drag on for another five years or more, says Bill Spiropoulos, CEO of CoreStates Capital Advisors.
"We continue to climb the wall of worry. No one believes this thing. And all the negative tales about how the world is going to end next month? They’re wrong," he said.
Investors should prepare for the bear market to stay, but Spiropoulos predicts that the Dow will reach 12,000 this year.
"When I say secular bear market, we’re talking about a sideways trend," Spiropoulos told CNBC.
After the bear market ends, inflation will erode into some investors' portfolios, he said.
"Once we return to normalcy, which we are doing, the core rate of inflation is going up and you see these negative returns in the bond market are going to eat people up. But it's not going to be the end of the world and the bear market can go on for 5 to 6 years," he said.
Dennis Wassung, portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management, said the economy is showing signs of improvement.
"You still have the capital flows into the fixed-income funds much more than in equity markets — there's still $3 trillion in money market funds. And as that capital comes back into the equity markets, that can provide the fuel and can move the market higher," he said.
Certain sectors in the market are still generating growth and creating opportunities, such as the energy sector, Wassung told CNBC.
"You've got more of a contrarian viewpoint on the natural-gas related stocks. You've got an interesting entry point in these natural gas related stocks when you're looking at a $4 natural gas price, so I point to Southwestern Energy," he said.
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