Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Paul Desmond, President, Lowrey’s
Research: "From a portfolio selection standpoint, we have repeatedly
emphasized that buying enthusiasm has been concentrated in mid-cap stocks, and
more specifically in financials, health care, oils and utilities. Those
categories, while not immune to corrections, should hold up comparatively well
in any further market weakness.
"Thus, longer-term investors should not be panicked by vague references
to big declines in some long-ago September. The evidence currently available
suggests that this is not a time for major liquidations. But, it should be
appropriate to review portfolio holdings to cull out the weakest issues at the
time of the next conventional short term sell signal."
Brian Belski, Fundamental Market
Strategist, U.S. Bancorp/Piper Jaffray: "The market appears to be opening
on the shaky side today. The OPEC agreement may be too little too late to
provide any clarity. However, the Comp weakness of last week seems to be heading
toward short-term oversold status within the next day or so, providing an
opportunity for at least a short-lived bounce as a result.
"As for new areas to watch, I’m looking at the retailers. The group has
shown rebounds so far this month. Although much of the sector movement has been
skewed by mega-caps like WMT and HD, we believe that other areas provide
potential value bottom fishing opportunities, and we will be screening for any
historical precedents we can derive."
Robin Griffiths, Chief Technical Analyst,
HSBC: "The U.S. economy is in great shape and no change in interest rates
is likely until the new year, by which time the new President’s honeymoon period
will be over. The rise in stocks, house prices and oil will give good cause for
rate hikes after that. The market will roll into the WXYZ part of the road map
shape, but will still be in the presence of a steep secular uptrend. The W to X
leg is therefore benign, and the X to Y leg can still make a new high. Returns
during this period will be less than last year."