Clearly trading here in the month of May feels more like August. But bottom line here, yes, we are, we're pinned in by interest rate uncertainty; we're pinned in by the Fed meeting coming up at the end of June. Obviously with those two things hanging over our head, the bottom line is the market really hasn't been taking a position on either side of the coin. In the last two weeks, we've basically been trading -- I can't believe this -- in the 10 percent range on the Nasdaq. But that's what it's been. |
Clearly, trading here in the month of May feels more like August. |
Clearly, with GDP cruising at 5.6 percent, our economy is definitely steaming along, and that's got the Fed worried, ... And the question is, going forward: What do we see at the June meeting? Do we see another 50 basis points? |
Clearly, with GDP cruising at 5.6 percent, our economy is definitely steaming along, and that's got the Fed worried. And the question is, going forward: What do we see at the June meeting? Do we see another 50 basis points? |
Corning provides a little strength to a very beleaguered sector, but the Street has not been expecting much out of the telecoms, |
Corning provides a little strength to a very beleaguered sector, but the Street has not been expecting much out of the telecoms. |
Earnings have been good, but we're priced for perfection. The bulls want a stronger wine to keep the party going. |
For the Fed, the productivity numbers and the very well-restrained unit labor costs are good news, confirming that they didn't have to take action to pace the economy. |
For the first nine months of the year, you had a leveling, a digesting of the rampant gains of 2003. Starting in mid-October, it got better. |
For the market as a whole, we're moving into this phase of awaiting information flow so that leads to some lackluster action. This is a time for patience and we should take solace in the fact that things are not getting worse. |
GE, UTX and IP help the Dow [in the] short term, but these companies aren't raising estimates, ... They're not saying that the fourth quarter is going to show growth. |
GE, UTX and IP help the Dow [in the] short term, but these companies aren't raising estimates. They're not saying that the fourth quarter is going to show growth. |
I can't read much into it. |
I don't think anything has changed. The bigger picture is that the cloud covering from Iraq is not only holding back Wall Street, but Main Street. |
I still think it's a relatively fertile investing environment. There are better roads ahead and the market is generally going to try to consolidate and deal with a slowing economy. |