he's brian lazorishak, portfolio manager of chase investment counsel. hi, brian. nice to have you with us. >> hi, susie. nice to be here again. >> susie: so you're pretty much thinking still over the next year, year and a half, stocks will be on the up side. tell us why. >> well i think you can have some short-term volatility and certainly a lot of eyes on the fed and what happens next week. but we remain constructive on stocks over the next 12-18 months, and particularly, the ones in the portfolio of the chase midcap growth fund. >> susie: let's talk about some of them. you have four stocks to tell us about. at the top of your list oil states international, o.i.s., trading here at the big board. up for the day, flat for the year. why do you like it? >> yeah, oil states international is an interesting company. we screen all the companies we're considering for purchasing the fund for consistent growth, for earnings momentum, for relative price performance. oil states hit all of those metrics and then we wanted to dig in and learn a little bit more about the story,

he's chase investment counsel's brian lazorishak.and commodities like gold have been surging-- what's behind the buying? >> susie: uncertainty is weighing on businesses, whether it's about health care, expiring tax cuts, regulations, or access to capital. tonight's commentator says the smallest american businesses have collectively pushed the "pause" button on hiring and investment. he's jerry ross, executive director at the national entrepreneur center. >> most small businesses are focusing on survival, and they have developed the attitude that the best long-term strategy for a small business is to just wait and see what happens next. remember, every big business that employs thousands today started as a little one. the next home depot or apple could be sprouting today in a garage near you. but the question is, will they survive? we must get our small businesses to hit the "play" button again. our banks need to find a way to provide growth capital for the smallest businesses in our economy, not just the big ones. and congress must r