Newsmax Finance Insider Ed Yardeni thinks the United States is still the best in which to invest, despite all the flaws. And with the constant volatility, investors need to be savvy and cautious.

U.S. stocks have had a rough start this year, to be sure. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 index have both plunged nearly 5 percent. The Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, has tumbled close to 9 percent year to date, CNBC reported.

“But I think this is not 2008 all over again,” Yardeni told CNBC, referring to the when the economy last spiraled into a financial abyss. “We have seen how the market has come back since February 11th from this ‘end of the world scenario’ to ‘maybe this is going to be all right after all,’” explained the president of Yardeni Research, Inc., a provider of independent global investment strategy research.

While he doesn’t expect a totally smooth ride, he believes the worst is over. “We're looking at a choppy market. Kind of sideways action last year setting us up for a resumption of the bull market next year,” he said.

But Yardeni firmly believes stocks have hit their bottom for the year and the savvy investor can still find bargains out there in such a volatile market. "I think the consumer is in good shape. I like the U.S. economy. I like the U.S. as a place to invest; on a global basis, it looks great," he said.

"The market has become a market for stock pickers. You really have to know your companies. While the overall consumer can be cheap, that doesn't mean you buy anything related to the consumer," Yardeni told CNBC.

He cited shares of JPMorgan "selling well under asset value so I think they're just cheap," he said,

As for just why the market stumbled out of the gate this year, Yardeni chalks it up to a strange combination of unique factors.

"I think we all got ambushed at the beginning of the year by two Fed officials," Yardeni said, referring to Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams. "They both started talking about increasing the fed funds rate four times this year," he said. "As soon as the market heard two of these key officials saying 'the market doesn't understand we're really intent on four rate hikes,' it got hit."

The Fed hiked rates for the first time in nearly a decade in December.

But Yardeni thinks the central bank should halt fire for now. "If they raise rates because the stock market is doing a little better and the economy is looking good, the stock market and commodity market will get hit again."

However, fellow Newsmax Finance Insider Hans Parisis doesn't really see a safe place to invest and urges investors sit on their cash.

"Investors could do well not to overlook the fact that the financial community is in reality isolated from the real economy. It is off the grid from many people in the real world," Parisis explained. "Cash in today’s abnormal world is not as abnormal and stupid as many want you to believe," he said. "Never forget, when prices go down (which is today the case with many investment vehicles), “cash” or cash-equivalents become more valuable."