Exercpt from TDAmeritrade's "Individual Investor" Newsletter

Q. What are your concerns about this year's market?

A. I'm closely watching corporate earnings growth, especially to see whether profit margins are expanding. Corporations have enjoyed a big increase in margins as they've outsourced their labor to cheaper countries. Will that trend continue, or have companies already maximized their productivity? If those gains have been exhausted, then sales have to pick up in order for companies to have good earnings. But that may be difficult if economic growth slows. I'm also worried that the foreign capital invested in this country — and there is a lot of it — may start to flow out as economic growth slows. Foreign investors may also pull out because of the political uncertainties of this election year. Frankly, I'm less worried about the impact of U.S. investors on the market than about what foreign investors may do.