Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Robert Wibbelsman, Portfolio Manager,
Strome Investment Management: “Since September 1st, we’ve had five of these
sparkling reversal attempts, and all of them failed. This one probably has a
better chance, because yesterday at one point it was so ugly what they had done
to the high-octane stocks which was so dramatic that maybe it’s closer to being
cleaned out. The last leaders have been dashed, with the exception of some of
the exotic biotechs which are still acting pretty well. But all of the
high-octane tech stocks have really been pretty well whipped around. So maybe
this one has a better chance.
“The important thing is that there a few steps required. Coming into
this week I thought we may have had a pretty good shot because we had what I
call a W in overbought/oversold. It’s when you get way oversold and you have a
blip in the line, and another selloff, and then another blip up, you complete a
W, and usually it’s good for a bottom or precedes a bottom by a week or so. So I
would say the chances are decent that this will last, but once you get
that, the next trick is you need to get two good days back to back. I would
regard yesterday as day one because of the reversal. If today closes very well,
then that would be pretty decent evidence.”
John Roque, Vice President, Arnhold and
S. Bleichroeder, Inc.: “Several things argue for yesterday’s action being a
‘low’ for Nasdaq. We are emphasizing the word ‘low’ here because we’re still
going with the idea that the bottom won’t secure until Nasdaq works above its
50-day moving average, Yesterday, we saw a nice intraday reversal on Nasdaq off
of the 3000 level. The actual intraday low was 3081.36 compared to the recent
intraday lows of 3026.11, 3054.55, and 3071.25 and the intraday low of 3042.66
from May 24, 2000. Five times holding the 3000 level is a pretty good sign. It’s
sort of like Nietzsche said: ‘What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.’
Anyway, it was something like that.”
Alan Ackerman, Market Strategist,
Fahnestock & Co.: “We’ve used the four Es, energy, the euro, earnings,
and the election as uncertainties that lie ahead for the U.S. market. As a
result of the market’s volatility and its attempts to find a footing, another E
can be appropriately added to the list, and that is exhaustion. Basically, what
concerns me right now is the continued lack of leadership both on the NYSE and
Nasdaq. Also of concern as an example of troubling examples of corporate
difficulty is the recently announced restructuring of AT&T, with a likely
restructuring announcement by Worldcom to follow.”
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