No one wants to concede right away because of what happened before, but I think it (the market) is going to charge ahead like this is a clear Bush win. |
People are looking forward to 2006 and expecting to have more difficulties. |
People are selling into some of the gains from the run this year and moving into the more defensive names. I think you could see more sideways movement for the next few weeks. |
Right now the general direction is up and that's because of the economy. But there is still a tremendous amount of skepticism about analysts' forecasts and the ability for corporations to repair profits that could challenge us next week. |
Sentiment, generally, is the big problem now. Even as market fundamentals are starting to improve, people are reluctant to buy, |
Some bears had implied that rates will rise by 50 basis points tomorrow, and some people were a bit worried about that. |
Stagflation is in the back of the minds of many investors right now. When they see energy getting quirky, they want to duck. And when they see the market rally, they want to take some chips off the table. |
Stocks rose sharply after the Fed cuts in the first quarter of 2001. So Fed action now could help. |
Tech has been so weak for so long that no one wanted to touch it. But people are looking at it again. Although the tech picture looked bleak for the last three years, people are seeing that there are going to be survivors, the leaders in the sectors. |
Technology has been under a bit of a cloud and there's still concerns about the telecom industry, ... I think investors are still very wary of it. They want to see more robust capital expenditure. |
The challenge for stocks next week is going to be getting through more Iraq news. |
The earnings reports and outlooks have been fairly positive, but I think trade has been kind of muddled recently, with the market wanting to give itself room to breathe after the big run it's had. |
The economy remains in a growth pattern, and normally the market would be responding favorably. But people are worried about inflation, the rise in energy prices and the weak dollar. |
The market has had war jitters and that, to a large extent, is responsible for a lot of the retreat over the last few weeks, but the decline comes with the backdrop of other things. You have worries about North Korea, Venezuela, the elections in Israel, you have companies saying that they won't provide guidance, like McDonald's and Coca-Cola. There are tremendous amounts of cash out there, but nobody wants to get in. |
The market is focused on the potential for Congress to help with a stimulus package and on the news out of Afghanistan. The release of the aid workers was certainly seen as a good sign. |