Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Adam Weisman, Managing Director, Wit
Soundview: “There were some things in the Solectron
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that might be giving some people some cause for concern, at least in the PC
area. Their commentary about what they were seeing in the industry has moved
Apple, Compaq, and Dell down a bit. That could be the reason for it. Other than
that, it’s just kind of choppy again. We’re entering pre-announcement season,
and we saw one last night from PRI Automation
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you would have thought that some of the other names like AMAT would have acted
worse. But you have to remember, we were up 11% in August, and we’ve already
given back 8% in five trading days, so it’s just dicey at best.
Barry Berman, Managing Director of Equity
Research, Robert W. Baird & Co.: “Right now there are a couple of
concerns in the market, and that has led to the technology stocks taking a hit.
They had a nice rally to about 4200, but since then you’ve seen earnings
revisions and downward forecasts for PCs and chips. And now this week is triple
witch, and people are going to start looking at the end-of-the-quarter portfolio
adjustments. We’re also getting into the pre-announcement season, so I think the
market’s just going to have a tough time here for awhile.
John Roque, Vice President, Arnhold and
S. Bleichroeder: “Here is our take on oil: So President Clinton puts
pressure on OPEC to increase production. OPEC then agrees to raise output for
the third time this year to stave off more price rises and the destabilizing
effect to the world economy. And oil rises?! Oil slipped that one-two punch
better than boxer Willie Pep who had 230 wins, 11 losses, and 1 tie. In the oil
sector, one of our latest reports highlighted Exxon Mobil
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PowerRating). We’re
buyers and will add on a close above 87 1/2 for 105.