Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Paul Rabbitt, President,
RabbittAnalytics.com: "Uncertainty due to the election fiasco will pressure
stocks this week. It could get pretty ugly if the election goes to the courts.
These are external events that are indeed unusual events for the stock market.
For those with staying power, the uncertainty is non-recurring. The overseas
mail-in votes will be counted the 17th and will likely result with Bush winning
the electoral vote by a slim margin. If Gore does not concede the election, his
lawsuits will fail to change the outcome. When the matter is settled we expect a
rally driving stocks upward through January-February."
Robin Griffiths, Global Technical
Strategist, HSBC: "Markets hate uncertainty. They want a result. Eventually
there will be a new President, but he will not have a huge margin of power. The
future is unlikely to feature big government. The economy will get on with its
own agenda guided by the Fed. Our road maps do predict that a bear phase will
follow from early in the new year. It will be in the presence of a strong
secular uptrend but will not finally end until late 2002.
Frank Gretz, Market Analyst, Shields
& Company: "Could it be another case of the market making the news
rather than the news making the market? Maybe the market has voted, and that
outcome is anything but uncertain. The market action, the weakness, isn’t just
about the political background. After all, many got exactly what they wanted.
They didn’t want Bush, they didn’t want Gore, and that’s what they got! That,
however, has nothing to do with why the Nasdaq lost 5% on Wednesday. Perhaps the market averages see problems of a fundamental rather than political type."