Value investing guru Mario Gabelli says a number of factors are pushing and pulling on stocks right now, and recently discussed some of those issues with Bloomberg. Gabelli says about 20% of S&P 500 companies’ earnings come from Europe, and that first quarter results and second quarter estimates for those European earnings are likely to be “bleak”. He also says the end of the Federal Reserve’s “Operation Twist”, and the “fiscal cliff” facing the U.S. in 2013, are going to weigh on investors in the coming two or three months. On the other side, he notes that bond yields are falling again and offering little competition for stocks, and that many pension funds are  underinvested in U.S. stocks and need to ramp up their exposure. Gabelli also discusses some of his favorite stocks, and why he prefers them over Apple.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmgSJpAoBW0]