Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA” Times>Frank
Gretzmso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA” Times>, Market Analyst, Shields & Co.: “The taxman might help
explain the rash of mutual fund redemptions back in February and more recently.
Still, one can’t help but remember how mutual fund redemptions
weren’t supposed to happen. In this age
of automatic payroll withholding by 401(K) plans, mutual fund investing was
supposed to be forever. Another
myth shattered, much like the ‘Cisco (15)’ myth and, indeed, the two no doubt
are related.
“mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA” Times>Those
growth funds suffering redemptions have to sell something.
And when you look around and say, what do I have a lot of, and what do I
have a lot of that’s liquid, names like Cisco, Sun (15) and Oracle (15)
somehow pop up. If that’s the only
explanation for their weakness those stocks should be in for a bounce as the new
quarter begins. More likely, the
problem runs much deeper. More likely it
is related to a study done by Sanford Bernstein which found that, over the last
40 years, the chance that a ‘recognized’ high growth tech stock can sustain that
status for five years is 1 in 7, for ten years it’s 1 in 14.”
Robin
Griffiths, Global Market Strategist, HSBC: “As the first quarter
draws to a close, market indices are well down and have seen a certain amount of
capitulation. It is now possible to have a significant rally from those oversold
levels in the Dow Jones and the S&P, but still see the Nasdaq go lower. The
best performing sectors have been Toys, +25%, Water Utilities, and household
products, +15%, and autos +10%.”
Brian
Belski, Fundamental Market Strategist, “U.S. Bancorp/Piper
Jaffray: “With energy losing some of its near-term momentum, it appears to
us that the Great Valuation Circle is finding its way toward cyclical issues, at
least until technology can build credibility with its own valuations.”