Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Brian Conroy, Head of Listed Trading,
J.P. Morgan: “We’re seeing a very quiet pullback from yesterday’s very
powerful move up. The overall tech area is a little bit weak today, and the
financials are a little bit weaker, but we’re not seeing any real money coming
out of the group. It’s just more kind of like window dressing. For the most
part, in some of the older cyclical names, we’re still finding buyers in those.
People are looking to buy on the dips. I think people have just stepped back
after yesterday’s powerful up move, and they’re just trying to take a look and
see what’s happening.”
John Roque, Vice President, Arnhold &
S. Bleichroeder: “One index we are watching is the AMEX Airline Index. It
is 52% above its yearly low of 110.78 on March 7 and is above its upward sloping
50- and 200-day moving averages. Although it has pulled back 4% from its yearly
high of 176.25 on July 14, the index is still strong and has been buoyed by
positive action in the index’s three largest constituents: Southwest Airlines
(
LUV |
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PowerRating),
AMR
(
AMR |
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PowerRating), and Northwest Airlines
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PowerRating).
“While the index is still bullish, we are concerned that the strong oil prices
will be a negative to the group. Our airlines analyst indicates that the
majority of the domestic carriers have hedges in place below current levels, and
that America West
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PowerRating), Alaska Air
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PowerRating), Northwest
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PowerRating), U.S.
Airways
(
U |
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PowerRating), and TWA
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PowerRating) are the carriers most susceptible to higher
fuel costs.”
Brian Belski, Fundamental Market
Strategist, U.S. Bancorp/Piper Jaffray: “In terms of broader market
highlights, the old economy sectors continue to dominate recent upward
revisions, particularly with the energy and utility stocks. A string of downward
revisions last week for the next fiscal year within the communication services
sector now shows the sector having more total downward than upward revisions for
the period. Financial stocks continue to receive upward revisions for the
current and next fiscal year, with both periods showing more upward than
downward totals. As for the weakest sector, consumer staples remains the worst
performer.”
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