Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Paul Desmond, President, Lowry’s
Research: “There have been significant pockets of stocks that have been in
bull market patterns throughout most of the year 2000 and right up to the
present time. These stocks suffered only minor losses during Feb. and March, and
could advance to new all-time highs in the months ahead. For example, the Lowry
Unweighted Index, which is derived from the price changes of every NYSE-listed
stocks, lost just 4.7% from its Feb. 12 high to its March 22 low. The stocks
leading this positive segment are commonly value stocks within the same industry
groups that have dominated for many months, namely: banking, building
construction, oil refining, publishing and retail department stores.”
John Roque, Vice President, Arnhold and
S. Bleichroeder: “We’re going to use Micron as our tech bellwether right
here. On a relative basis, (Micron divided by Nasdaq) there has been only one
other time since ’94 when MU was this strong relative to Nasdaq. When Micron
exhibited this trait, it occurred during bullish moves for Micron and tech in
general. So, unless the tech sector is on the cusp of a seminal move upward, we
figure a failure in MU, and its relative performance versus Nasdaq, will give us
some insight into tech performance going forward.”
Paul Rabbitt, President,
RabbittAnalytics.com: “Cyclical issues have sharply out-performed consumer
issues the past few months as investors have started to bet on the recovery in
the economy. A rebound in consumer issues
from a deeply oversold level will be helped by a recovery in consumer sentiment
and consumer spending. In fact, we
are upgrading consumer durables today including autos and homebuilding.”