Overheard On The Street
Here’s what they’re saying at mid-day:
Arthur Hogan, Chief Market Analyst,
Jefferies & Co.: “We’re having a great day all things considered
because we had some disappointing news on Oracle, and that’s getting banged
around pretty hard. It’s difficult to have something in the technology space
give us disappointing news and then have the market pull its head up. I think
the main culprit on the plus-side would be Microsoft. The stock made an
impressive technical break-through when it held above 72, and it’s just been off
to the races since then.
“So the Nasdaq that was down some 50 points has turned around, and
everything is looking pretty rosy. I’m not overly surprised in as much as we do
have a Fed meeting coming up, and the consensus has shifted from a tightening to
no action whatsoever. I think what we’re seeing today is just some investors
wanting to get out in front of that.”
Arnie Owen, Managing Director of
Equities, Cruttenden Roth: “It’s really a mixed bag today. Some stocks are
bouncing, like Lucent, and you’ve got Oracle down after a mixed review of their
earnings. I think the market’s just taking a breather here. The Nasdaq is up
1000 from its low. People tend to not focus on that. The Dow has been trading a
range, but the Nasdaq, after its rather sharp correction or bear market that
took it down form 5000 to 3000, is now back up 1000 points, and it’s feeling a
heck of a lot better. We’re coming into earnings season, and I think we’re just
taking a breather.”
Gregg Parise, General Partner, Dorado
Capital Management LLC: “I think definitively we’ve found a bottom in the
tape here as far as making new lows. I think that the range has been bumped up
and in the bottom of the range you still have some risk down to 3550. I think
realistically your risk is 3750. The tape feels a lot safer to me. You look at
the breakout the other day, and we’ve had great volume. I look at the tape
today, and it even though it feels tired, if it sells off, to me it’s more of a
lack of buying and kind of buy orders being on hold in front of the Fed meeting
next week.
“I think the Fed meeting is going to be a positive catalyst for the market. I
think if they raise them 25 basis points, we’re going to have people give a sigh
of relief, and if they leave them unchanged, people are going to think the
economy is slowing, and then it’s off to the races. I think there’s a lot of
cash on the sidelines, and there’s a lot of money to get rolling back in the
market. I also think the overall risk in the tape has been greatly diminished.”