Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Barry Hyman, A. Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum:
“The rally we have seen over the past month is certainly indicative of the
bottoming process having begun and the realization that the four interest rate cuts
by the FED totaling 200 basis points are finally having the desired
psychological effect on the investor. It
is important to note that without any fundamental improvement in earnings or
guidance, the stabilization of the market is impetus enough to create a market
bottom. We believe the second quarter will continue to be volatile, with
the opportunity for the growth investor to finally have the chance to begin a
systematic accumulation of growth stocks, particularly in technology.”
Tim Hayes, Global Equity Strategist, Ned
Davis Research: “I think this is a normal pullback today, but I think the
bigger news is that we are in a good uptrend now. We have had good improvement
in our trend indicators, and the overall environment has improved. People should
not overreact to a few days of weakness as if we are going back to new lows
because I think we have pretty much broken that. As long as we hold around 1200
on the S&P as a support level, then I think we’ll be okay.”
Robert Bender, President, Robert Bender
& Associates: “The American consumer is not a happy camper.
He is responding, but he is not very aggressive as far as buying is
concerned. The wealth
effect is because my stocks are going up, I am wealthier, so I can buy more.
If that is the case, that means that if my stocks are going down, we
don’t have a wealth effect. That
means that the stock market becomes the driver of the consumer.
So it seems that the Fed’s job is very simple.
Get the stock market up. That’s
okay with me.”