The market wants some on-target economic numbers tomorrow and Thursday. We want an equilibrium in the economy. If the numbers are too strong or weak, the interest rate debate would rage on. The numbers need to show moderation. |
The news today so far has been quite poor to say the least. You've got oil up, and it continues to go higher. The ISM manufacturing came out softer than expected. And Wal-Mart wasn't great. |
There was a sense that a year-end rally would take us higher, but there's some concern from the bond market flattening. The inverting of the yield curve would bring us more problems in 2006. We also have light volume, exaggerating moves to both sides. |
There's a discount on the marketplace for the possible stuff that could happen over the next couple of weeks, months or quarters that could be a drag on the economy. |
There's not much players around. Buyers are mostly absent while there's a lot of tax-related selling going on. |
There's pent up optimism that the next couple of quarters should be OK for corporate America and the economy because the interest-rate environment has stabilized. |
Those were three lousy numbers from an economic perspective. There is the intimation of a slowdown led by the housing market and if the consumer rolls over, then we have a problem. |
We all know it's going to be a quarter point hike. But over the past two days the bond market is also telling us that it thinks the Fed is not going to stop there. The bond market will be driving stocks today. |
We built on a relief rally, ... From an economic standpoint, things picked up after the price rise in oil dropped. It showed the resilience of the economy. |
You're seeing a little bit of buying come in today, which you'd expect after a sell off. The market is looking at what happened Friday rationally, and now it's just a wait-and-see on how other bellwether companies do on their earnings. |
You've got a push-pull between tragedy and the good that can come out of it for the markets. You've got to rebuild, and you're going to put money and resources into that and create jobs. |
You've got oil up, and it continues to go higher. Where the Fed kind of has said that they are closer to the end than the beginning of tightening, they're going to probably have to deal with inflation stemming from energy, and they could have to tighten longer. |