Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Bob Basel, Head of Listed Trading,
Salomon Smith Barney: “The market’s trading in a tight range today. If
anything there is a little bit of a New Economy-Old Economy scenario. Compaq had
some decent earnings. Techs and the Nasdaq are acting well, as are the
financials. Market continues to be poised for the FOMC meeting next week where
it should get further definitive direction.”
Robin Griffiths, Chief Technical
Strategist, HSBC: “Markets did not quite flow from bull to bear phase as we
had expected. It is normal to have a seasonal rise from October through the
year-end, and if it is a presidential year, then the new man normally gets a
brief honeymoon. The delay in obtaining a result for the Presidential election
has caused the market to enter the bear phase earlier than expected. The rally
phase will be triggered by the Fed’s second or third rate cut and will probably
be heralded by the investing public as a new bull market as they believe in a
soft landing. The final capitulation will occur in 2002 but not before the Dow
Jones and the S&P indices make new highs.”
Bryan Brown, Principal, Spectrum Equity
Services LLC: “The consensus here is that what we’re seeing is a Fed that is
about to ease in a material way, roughly consistent with 1994 and 1998, and that
seems logical and rational. However, 1998 was entirely proactive, and 1994 had a
completely different profile economically. Bearish sentiment actually got much
higher in 1994 than it got recently. The issue is that we have not seen bearish
sentiment consistent with a capitulation phase in this market. Fed easing makes
it easier for stocks to rally, but in this particular case, the rallies are
likely to be short lived, and while substantial percentage-wise, not
particularly long in duration.”