Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Louis Parks, Senior Managing Director,
Raymond James Financial: “I think the market is still very queasy about
what earnings prospects are going to be going forward. I still think there is
some uneasiness about whether or not oil prices will come in. Right now, with
earnings concerns being the primary driver, portfolio managers are going to
probably tweak their portfolios to make some adjustments but not make too many
tremendous additions or deletions from the portfolios. In other words, I think
there is going to be an absence of adding a lot of new positions that could help
bolster up the market a little bit. So, I think we’re going to see some
status-quo sideways movement.”
Gregory Nie, Senior Vice President of
Technical Research, First Union Securities: “We benefited from buy programs
at the opening this morning. The market is still in the struggle mode. We’ve had
rather sloppy trade, and it’s mixed again today in terms of breadth with it
slightly positive on the big board and slightly negative on the
over-the-counter. Volume appears to be fairly active, and I think you can
attribute that to end of the quarter considerations which happens on Friday. The
market is trying to find its footing after a very rough September. I would
expect the cross-currents to continue for a little longer, specifically on
Friday where we have the prospect of re-balancing for the end of the quarter for
the index types.”
Michael O’Boyle, Managing Director of
Nasdaq Trading, Equitable Securities: “We’re seeing the hospital stocks all
on the rise today on speculation of some consolidation in the rural hospital
companies. They all have been strong for the last couple days, and it’s
continuing through again today. In the broader market, there’s a lot of people vacillating.
Buyers of Monday and Tuesday are really just not here.
“I thought there would have been a little more follow through on the
Nasdaq, but we’re watching the price of oil up a half of a dollar today.
Somebody said to watch out because we’re possibly looking at $50 a barrel for
oil. We’re also seeing a little pressure selling in the recent under-performers.
People just want some of them off their books for the quarter end.”Â