Dow Jones Newswires -- January 8, 1999
Salomon Smith Barney's Manley Sees Some 2H Earns Concerns
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Even though the market should remain flat with a slight upside bias, corporate earnings could be a cause for concern in the latter half of 1999, according to John Manley, senior equity strategist at Salomon Smith Barney.
"In the second half of 1999, you are getting closer to the Y2K problem. People start to worry about things like that, and I think we're going to have rough numbers all year long," Manley said in an interview with CNBC Friday.
"To the degree the second half is weaker than the first, I don't know if I'd put it in those terms, but I just think that in the first half of the year it's going to be far too soon to call for any sort of significant weakness," he added.
Investors should continue to invest in the bond market, especially corporate and municipal bonds, Manley said.
The strategist said he still likes pharmaceutical stocks, as well as some technology, bank and insurance issues. Chase Manhattan Corp. (CMB), Allstate Corp. (ALL) and American International Group Inc. (AIG) were among his top picks.
As far as technology stocks are concerned, Manley likes Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
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