The inventory industry finished the 1st quarter on a robust take note. The tech-large Nasdaq 100 was the standout performer soon after rallying additional than 20% from its December lows. That places the index in a specialized bull market place — widely outlined as a get of at least 20% from a 52-week very low. That outperformance is getting traders psyched and is prompting speak that a new bull market place is in the playing cards. But market veteran David Dietze explained he thinks the stock sector is acquiring in advance of itself. “Some technically determine the start out of a new bull sector as a 20% rise from a current reduced, and beneath that definition the Nasdaq fulfills the examination, but not, however, the S & P 500 , up only about 14% since its October lower,” Dietze, running principal at Peapack Non-public Prosperity Management, advised CNBC’s ” Avenue Signals Asia ” on Tuesday. “Some others have hassle calling a current market motion a new bull marketplace until eventually the current market at minimum attains its prior all-time large stage. In that feeling, we are a extended way from a new bull sector as the Nasdaq is even now down virtually 30% from its peak, although the S & P 500 is down just underneath 15%,” he added. Dietze stated inflation stays the “number 1” headwind in the current market. “That retains interest premiums substantial, the [Federal Reserve] intense, and would make purchaser spending far more challenged. Better costs make customer massive ticket products additional highly-priced, companies’ money expenditures pricier, though also creating bonds much more aggressive relative to shares,” he said. How he’s positioning For starters, he reported, buyers ought to continue to be invested in the stock sector, regardless of the enchantment of increased-yielding money market place resources and small-dated Treasurys. These short-term prices can “come down as rapid as they went up,” he warned. “It is very risky to consider to time the sector in between money, even if better yielding, and stocks,” he stated. Dietze is also remaining “constructive” on smaller-cap stocks, nevertheless the sector has been a laggard this 12 months. The sector has a track record of outperformance, in accordance to Dietze, and could be owing for a bounce. Their underperformance this yr signifies now could be a “superior time to enter from a valuation standpoint,” he additional. Amid the larger-cap names, he likes Western Alliance Bancorp for its 25-12 months very low valuation and rich money flows Comcast for its stock buybacks and “generous” dividends, as well as Boston Houses for its “class A house possession in essential, blue-chip metropolitan areas.” Be cautious of so-called secure havens The latest banking turmoil on Wall Avenue despatched a lot of flocking to so-known as protected havens, this kind of as gold, cryptocurrencies and bonds — but Dietze is urging caution. “Amid the banking disaster, the Nasdaq continued to do effectively, which looks anomalous in mild of the dire headlines about the banking process. It does seem to be as if there has been a flight to perceived protection, whether or not that indicates gold, [which went] briefly previously mentioned $2,000/ounce Bitcoin, which billed previously mentioned $28,000 recently [and] bonds, which observed some of their major plunges in yields given that the Crash of 1987,” he explained. Share price ranges of mega-cap tech stocks these kinds of as Microsoft and Alphabet have also witnessed substantial gains in modern weeks, which Dietze claimed is “with out any fundamental justification.” “Any leisure of tensions could reverse these gains,” he warned.