With earnings growth and profit margins finally starting to ease, that puts the onus on revenue growth to fuel gains in stock prices, says Ed Yardeni, president of investment advisory firm Yardeni Research.

As a result, he likes consumer stocks, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Adam Parker, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, is a fan of companies that do heavy business in emerging markets.

Editor's Note: This Wasn’t an Accident — Experts Testify on Financial Meltdown

Consumer optimism will likely rise following the fiscal cliff agreement that spared most people from major tax increases, Yardeni says. So discretionary consumer companies, such as retailers, can climb.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 65.1 in December from 71.5 in November amid concern about fiscal negotiations.

Parker tells The Journal he favors companies with strong emerging-market revenue because he expects slow growth in the United States and Europe. His picks include General Motors, which has a big presence in China, and Emerson Electric, which is active in Asia and Latin America.

Some experts say that for the overall stock market, Federal Reserve easing is the most important bullish factor, given decelerating profit growth.

“Without the Federal Reserve doing what they did for the last few years, there would be no way you’d be near any of these levels in the [Standard & Poor’s 500] index,” Joseph Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading, tells The Associated Press.

The S&P 500 hit a five-year high Friday.

Editor's Note: This Wasn’t an Accident — Experts Testify on Financial Meltdown