People are still paying a lot of attention to the data. I would not say investors are being bearish. But they are taking profits when they can.

That is a factor that has helped sentiment today. Canada is a prime target for many overseas buyers because we are so strong in energy and commodities, and the valuations are definitely lower than the...

October is a bad month anyway. Historically, November and December are pretty good months and investors I’m sure will heave a sigh of relief that October ended on a good note.

With the mood of the market, people are going to be looking for stocks that haven’t yet taken part in recovery and I think Nortel would be an obvious candidate because it’s still fairly close...

The fact that the Wednesday rally was not sustainable is a cause for concern. It shows that the market does not want a short term solution. Much of the reaction was euphoric.

It is a classic indicator of a bull market when stocks don’t go down even on bad news. It is a positive thing for the short term.

I think the view certainly had been that we were possibly looking at a Conservative majority, so … we might see some modest profit-taking on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

I think investors are asking why the Fed acted so quickly and so decisively.

Maybe the summer doldrums are already setting in.

It’s a sweet-spot theory. We have economic growth that’s very robust, but at the same time it’s not strong enough to raise concerns about inflation.

This rally looks sustainable because the gains are smaller. It is not like you have a 250-point gain in one day, which is hard to keep up.

We have seen selling into strength and that pattern has not changed in the last few weeks.

This is just a normal, healthy bout of profit-taking. It’s been a one-way street since the October lows and the index was up close to 20 per cent in that time.

It seemed optimistic to begin with. The fact that the gains have not been sustainable is not encouraging.

The financial services sector is especially strong because interest rates are stable and the economy is growing at a good pace.

Transportation stocks have had a tremendous run in recent months despite high energy prices, so it could be that investors are taking some profits off the table here.

I think the biggest impact today was the profit warnings coming out of the United States. We had some real heavyweights like Lucent, whose woes in particular brought Nortel down because they operate in the...

We might be seeing, after a long time, an ability to shake off bad news. That’s what we need to see this market move higher.

Energy prices seem to be in the sweet spot. They’re not too high to warrant concern for a global [economic] slowdown and yet at these prices the energy sector is going to be making money...

This has been a fairly volatile month for the TSX, and today is no exception.

Overall, fourth-quarter earnings growth will be weak because the economy has slowed much faster than people had expected.

Overall, the market is looking for some direction ahead of Cisco, which is going to affect the market greatly tomorrow. Investors are being cautious … It’s a wait and watch approach.

Today’s charge has been led by the usual suspects: energy and commodity stocks, which is not surprising giving gold prices… and crude oil closing at its highest ever.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen these concerns about Iran and Nigeria. We’ve seen them rise and fall and today was a day when those concerns were predominant.

The market tried to race higher ahead of those results, but there was still uncertainty as to what Cisco would say about future quarters.

From here on, I think the market will focus on the fact that the easing cycle is going to come to an end pretty soon. Which means the Fed might be seeing a recovery in...

It was another day of wait and see. Nortel reiterated its guidance for the Canadian market. But the market is clearly looking for leadership.

The action this week does indicate that the recovery horizon has been pushed out further. Investors are now pushing the horizon into the next year or perhaps even after that.

We are definitely seeing some sector rotation into technology.

The broad recovery is a good sign.

I think next week’s meeting will be absolutely crucial. If the half-point rate cut is not materialized, the market is at risk of going down from these levels.

It’s a little disappointing to see a down day on the last trading day of the year. The two big groups that are down today are materials and financials, and both groups have had a...

Clearly, the markets are still looking for direction. I think the next bit of good news will be from the Fed, and if there is any hint of lower interest rates that should be really...

Despite whatever has happened, investors are still in the mood for a bargain.