Douglas Altabef
Douglas Altabef
continues economic far few last news ongoing played profit recovery relief seeing taking
Profit news continues to be good, and we are seeing some relief from the profit taking of the last few weeks. But there is an ongoing tug-of-war between 'we've come too far too fast,' and 'the economic recovery is strong' and you're seeing that played out on a day-to-day basis.
brief continue good last markets moving stock year
You'll see markets continue to do the Cha-Cha, moving higher, but paced by brief retrenchments. It's not going to be as good as last year, but I think 2004 will still be a good year for the stock markets.
anyone conviction expected great last market reality seeing tone week
We're seeing the reality of a market that does not have any great conviction. Anyone who expected a linear, 'We're off to the races' kind of tone after last week was mistaken.
among based business investment last lousy reality retailers stock terrific thinking
It's always been a high-multiple stock among the retailers based on the reality of terrific business performance. Wal-Mart has many times in the last 15 years been a lousy investment possibility because it's priced so high. Our thinking is they've got to always be right.
drag last repeat wants
I think there is a lot of nervousness that we'll have a repeat of last time. No one wants to see this drag on like it did in 2000.
attention blowing buying coming couple fair few investors last left lousy meeting nervous number paying run seen tremendous trends volatility whistle worth
I think there are a couple trends worth paying attention to. Number one is the re-emergence of financials. We've seen that already over the last few months. They've had a tremendous run but they're coming off such a lousy last year-and-a-half that I think it's fair to say that it hasn't really left the station. But there's a lot of whistle blowing going on. The other one is that investors are very nervous about any kind of whiff of disappointment of not meeting expectations, so there is tremendous short-term volatility going on, and that's a buying opportunity.
case expect higher january jump lower massive people percent profit run wanting year
We expect the year to end 2 to 3 percent higher or lower than where it is now. The case for it going down is a massive run of profit taking. The case for it going up is people wanting to get a jump on the January rally.
accounting cheap loose people polyester ready shoes thread trust worried worries
These accounting worries go right to the underpinnings of trust and confidence. If trust isn't there, you're tugging at the loose thread of a cheap polyester suit. People are worried about what other shoes are getting ready to drop.
attitude earnings higher late numbers reaction return saw seeing starting talk whisper
Earnings have been good, but what you're starting to see is a return to the attitude about earnings that we saw in the late 1990's, where you're seeing more talk about whisper numbers, higher expectations, and a more punitive reaction to numbers that disappoint.
advance caused coming comments oil
Ostensibly, the advance was caused by oil coming down and some of the comments with the beige book.
figure people trying
People are trying to figure out what the real-world implications of AOL's announcement are.
exciting market tech year
We think one of the more exciting opportunities this year in the market are in the tech sector.
compelling days few news reason stocks today
There's no real compelling reason for stocks to be up. But you've got little new news and there's an upward bias, so we're up today after a few days of selling.
catch start
Merrill may be more of a tortoise, but they'll start to catch up.