Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Michael Lyons, Senior Trader, Morgan
Stanley Dean Witter: “The business got done during the first hour or hour
and a half, and now people are looking to pull up their stakes and head for the
hills, you know, get some turkey in them. That court ruling last night didn’t go
the way the market was hoping, and they came out of the gate this morning down.
There’s no bounce or life to this market, and nobody wants to get involved.
You’ve got a buyers’ strike going on until the next shoe drops. This is the
election that’s just never going to end. Traders just want to get flat here and
get out of town. It’s been a confusing week, and it’s been a tough week. There
really hasn’t been a bright spot in it.”
Jay Suskind, Director of Trading, Ryan,
Beck & Co.: “The news from last night on the election was bad news for
the market twofold. The Street was looking at a Bush victory, and obviously that
puts that in jeopardy. Secondly, it’s also more of the same that this is going
to last a while longer because it doesn’t seem like there’s going to be
finality. Add to that kind of a short week here where people don’t want to be
long too much. Then there’s the constant talk of slowing earnings and a slowing
economy and problems in the market. My sense is that this is more of a buyers’
boycott than anything else, and it sounds simplistic, but that is certainly a
bear-market signal.”
Charles Payne, President,
WallStreetStrategies.com: “All summer long and certainly in September and
October everyone was looking for a classic capitulation, where everyone throws
in the towel across the board, from the individual investor to the money
manager, and that’s the type of action that we’re really seeing today.
Frustrations, questions, and just an outright lack enthusiasm or disillusionment
has led to a broad-based throwing in of the towel in the market. I think there
are certainly some over-reactions and technology stocks obviously paying the
brunt of the price.”