Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Charles Payne, President,
WallStreetStrategies.com: “Obviously we are sort of basking in the glow of
hope today, but it’s still too early to get out the tambourines and start
celebrating. But I think it’s a good thing that the market still has the ability
to rally in this type of way, with the Nasdaq up 100 and the Dow up 270. Just
the fact we are still able to find these types of buyers bodes very well for the
future because eventually there will be a rally. The big question mark, of
course, is whether or not this is is yet another in a long line of sucker
rallies. I really don’t think it is, but that doesn’t mean the market can’t go
down tomorrow. But I think this rally reflects genuine hope and genuine thought
that perhaps stocks have been oversold.
“The real key is tomorrow with the jobs numbers for March. The
unemployment level in the country right now is 4.2%. Official estimates are for
around 4.3%, and if we get that then I think the market goes higher. If we get
something like 4.4%, then we get an explosive rally. It’s going to be tough. If
we get 4.2% then that really dashes the hope not only for Fed intervention but
it also takes the bar down from a 50 basis point cut to a 25 basis point cut, so
a low jobs number really would destroy what we’re trying to achieve today.”
Peter Marin, Portfolio Manager, Superior
Capital Management: “I think we are probably going to need more time. I
guess what I would like to see is some capitulation in the bull/bear sentiment
ratio. I notice that the Investors Intelligence percent bulls was steady last
week, and it still is a fair bit above the percent bears which ticked up
slightly. I’m kind of thinking that we probably won’t be able to mount a
meaningful rally until the bearish sentiment mounts a little bit further. They
have been wrong all the way down, and my sense is that they will be wrong at the
bottom.”