Blackstone's Joseph Zidle is warning investors earnings season could go awry.
With almost half of S&P 500 companies reporting quarterly earnings so far, Zidle believes a lot could still go wrong. He lists an earnings setback as the most legitimate risk that would spark a correction. "We might see earnings growth at approximately zero for the first quarter, and I think we could also see earnings growth at approximately zero for the second quarter," the firm's chief investment strategist said Thursday on CNBC's "Zidle sees the major indexes' sharp rally off their December lows as a signal that stocks are vulnerable right now.
"I don't think these price gains are going to be sustainable," he said. "I do think this near-term volatility is a real possibility."year-end forecast of 2,875, 2% below Friday's close. He has the chance of a 10% correction baked into the estimate. "The good news is, however, that this earnings cycle will have a chance to not only trough, but ultimately recover before we hit the end of the economic cycle," noted Zidle.