Over the past few months, we've seen these concerns about Iran and Nigeria. We've seen them rise and fall and today was a day when those concerns were predominant. |
Overall, fourth-quarter earnings growth will be weak because the economy has slowed much faster than people had expected. |
Overall, the market is looking for some direction ahead of Cisco, which is going to affect the market greatly tomorrow. Investors are being cautious ... It's a wait and watch approach. |
People are still paying a lot of attention to the data. I would not say investors are being bearish. But they are taking profits when they can. |
That is a factor that has helped sentiment today. Canada is a prime target for many overseas buyers because we are so strong in energy and commodities, and the valuations are definitely lower than the U.S. |
The action this week does indicate that the recovery horizon has been pushed out further. Investors are now pushing the horizon into the next year or perhaps even after that. |
The broad recovery is a good sign. |
The fact that the Wednesday rally was not sustainable is a cause for concern. It shows that the market does not want a short term solution. Much of the reaction was euphoric. |
The financial services sector is especially strong because interest rates are stable and the economy is growing at a good pace. |
The market tried to race higher ahead of those results, but there was still uncertainty as to what Cisco would say about future quarters. |
This has been a fairly volatile month for the TSX, and today is no exception. |
This is just a normal, healthy bout of profit-taking. It's been a one-way street since the October lows and the index was up close to 20 per cent in that time. |
This rally looks sustainable because the gains are smaller. It is not like you have a 250-point gain in one day, which is hard to keep up. |
Today's charge has been led by the usual suspects: energy and commodity stocks, which is not surprising giving gold prices... and crude oil closing at its highest ever. |
Transportation stocks have had a tremendous run in recent months despite high energy prices, so it could be that investors are taking some profits off the table here. |