This is more of a short-term perspective and I don’t see any commitment by institutions. But a diversified portfolio is doing well here.

I believe the Fed will engineer this slowdown and it won’t result in a hard landing,

Everybody expects people to come back from vacation and the activity to start. The first day is a very lackluster day and people are just getting used to stuff.

It’s certainly related to the financial sector going down. There is increasing concern that there will be more earnings misses or pre-announcements coming out. A lot of this is (also) options-related.

The retail sales numbers we saw should have presumed a rally but we had some selling in Hewlett-Packard and NBC Internet. During the day, people started to realize that retail sales were good news.

It’s very focused on the Intel and IBM story today but it’s a fairly flat trading day, … All we’ve done is gain back a little bit of the massive losses. The damage is still...

Higher interest rates are an impediment to companies where cost is important and that’s Old Economy stocks, … What we are seeing is a defensive move into technology stocks.

I don’t think it changes any [Fed] decision making as we go into Tuesday’s meeting. We are still looking at one-half a percentage point hike. This is the first of the important numbers that determines...

(Microsoft) has been trading like the company (had already) lost the antitrust case against the government. The stock has been extremely weak compared to its sector and especially since the company has already reported earnings.

We seem to go from worries about the economy slowing down to appreciating that the economy remains strong and can bounce back from slower fourth-quarter GDP growth.

The likelihood of inflationary pressures is increasing. The likelihood that the (Federal Reserve) is going to do something is increasing.

Today’s market is comforting in that it’s back a bit, but it just doesn’t have the feel of yesterday having made a bottom.

We think 3.5 percent is a good point for the Fed to take a break to measure the economy and the impact of its rate hikes. If the economy does appear to be picking up,...

I think the movement we’ve seen since the beginning of the year, with a few weeks up, a few weeks down, is likely to continue at least through the end of the quarter.

The market did improve with the housing data. Market trends day to day are really influenced by how the bonds have been trading. When the rates have gone up, equities have suffering, when rates have...

The price of energy should spook investors. So far, the market is foolishly accepting of the price of oil without a negative reaction as long as it doesn’t break out to a new high.

The traditional year-end rally didn’t happen this year and the ‘January Effect’ doesn’t look like it’s going to occur. This is just a wait-and-see market right now that will continue to be driven by important...

It is just an affirmation that the Nasdaq represents the growth sector of the investment universe. That is where much money is being put to work the last month.

This is clearly a number on wage inflation that the market did not want to see. It’s clearly disturbing to see wages at this level and I think it’s going to weigh on the market...

I want to see more comments from the CEO saying things are stabilizing, … The market has its test coming in the next four-to-six weeks.

The problems are the same: Interest rates are high, and the economy is strong. It is affecting those sectors that are credit sensitive.

I think there’s apathy in the market. The cruel reality is that earnings do matter and, in the absence of any new catalyst, you’re going to get days like this.

I think there’s enough in the cyclicality issue that it’s going to be more of a traders’ market. I think there’s enough confusion out there that so much depends on the third-quarter earnings that we...

There are still tough times ahead in technology, … Wall Street wants to see only greater-than-expected earnings.

There is also a little bit of nervousness ahead of tomorrow’s employment report, which is expected to be strong. It just focuses investors on the higher interest rates that are still in the offing.

The markets do not like global crises, whether they’re political or economic. They do have ramifications in the world. Our export market may be hurt somewhat due to that.

I am not looking at long-term because it is working against investments. There’s certainly going to be an implied warning (by the Fed) which means that we’re ‘on hold’ until August.

Technology has done well, not necessarily because of the crash, but because it has moved up the alert that the market’s concentrating on a 2002 recovery. Rather than focusing on the earnings that are going...

Cisco’s story was that inventory concerns and demand driven problems are not fixable as early as Wall Street expected, … People are understanding the impact of what Cisco said. Wall Street wants to believe things...

I think it’s emotional, because all the news out today is already known.

The market gets extremely concerned on (long-term) interest rates when they get above 6 percent.

In terms of wanting to go global, in terms of the weakening dollar, I think you can place a play on Japan here. Japan’s had a big drop in the last month-and-a-half of almost 12...

This number is very startling. It is preliminary, so it is subject to fairly substantive revision. These numbers may translate into earnings risk, but may also dissuade an aggressive Federal Reserve.

After last week’s great run, the market is directionless, … We’re somewhat hostage until we get more proof that the economy is slowing.

It’s the companies that came through the quarter without any problems that are the ones reacting well and they’re not as cyclical as some of the others.

Today is the next to last day of the quarter and window dressing gets more aggressive.

You will have to pay him on every can of paint, every carpet, every everything that goes into your house, … He’s betting on the next economic upswing again, and that’s why Berkshire Hathaway has...

This market is just one decent story away from destroying the bears. I can just feel the short-sellers getting ready to push the buy button if the market gets through these key levels.

a big tug of war between the bulls and the bears…and the bears keep on selling on the strength.

If the Fed believes there are inflationary concerns about the strength of the economy, they will act. They will continue to do what they need to do to slow the economy down. It’s going to...

Is it a slow-growth economy?

We’re supported by a rebounding economy after a weaker fourth quarter, and recently lower oil prices. But that’s countered by concerns about slower earnings growth and higher inflation.

The market is just reeling from all the impediments ahead of it. There doesn’t seem to be any meaningful reaction to any news on the earnings front or meetings that company’s are offering to tell...

We don’t look for a (rate hike) next week, but possibly one in August.

The market remains concerned with the progress of the earnings beyond the second quarter.

This is a market that is assuming everything is going to get better. There’s been too much commentary by the chairmen of these companies that these problems are inventory but everything is based on a...

The election is really undecided, and I think that keeps the market locked in a range right now. Day to day this week, I think people need to watch the price of energy and see...

[Of those that have reported results so far, most of the news has been upbeat. However,] the market is looking ahead, … It’s looking to the second half of the year and to 2006, and...

Today, the catalyst in technology was the report that PC sales in the second quarter slowed. The PC sector feeds into the semiconductor sector, which feeds into other parts of technology.

They’re down around 15 to 20 percent from their highs. You’ve got an opportunity to buy some of these bank stocks at decent values here.