Overall, the issue for the market right now is oil. Today it seems to be about the events in Nigeria, but with oil it’s been just one issue after another lately.

We’ve had some very good earnings. Certainly the sell-off we’ve had in the last week or so has provided an opportunity for buyers to come back into the market.

I like the rally today and the volume is good, but we still have a lot of economic reports to get through the rest of the week that could either undermine it or strengthen it.

Gorman coming over changes the whole landscape. It’s a fresh slate.

But the language in the Fed comments and in Greenspan’s speeches of late has been pointing to rate hikes becoming more aggressive, … The word ‘measured’ is going to be dropped soon, maybe at this...

Oil is certainly dominating the market right now. Yesterday, crude moved above $60 but then pulled back by the close. Today you didn’t see that.

The question is when does the economy recover and to what extent does it recover?

I think we can see the market continue to move up through the summer, but it’s going to depend on the earnings and the economic news. We should begin to see some evidence of an...

We’ve seen a very volatile stock market since February. Different styles and sectors, like technology or financials, coming in and out of favor with no clear direction. There’s nothing really wrong with techs. They are...

It seems to us that this rally is primarily short-covering, rather than something fundamental. The sense is that tech doesn’t have much room to go lower.

The [sharp rise in] futures this morning reflected strong earnings, and we do think earnings are strong and the economy is strong, … It is a possible that if earnings keep coming in strong that...

The little bear-market rally we saw earlier and yesterday just ran out of buyers.

These earnings really give analysts confidence that this company and the industry and the metal are well on the road to recovery and the outlook remains strong.

We’re into a bit of the summer doldrums. There have been a lot of positive earnings surprises, but the anticipation of that has lifted markets for months, with little proof that the economy is improving...

I think early January should live up to its reputation as a pretty good time of year for stocks.

The waters remain very muddy in terms of the economy, … Friday’s payrolls report made the case that the economy still has some life to it, but it’s not clear yet whether the slowdown in...

It’s not causing a sell-off like it has in the past, but it does make it unlikely the market can move a lot higher.

We want to be in cheaper tech stocks, and companies like IBM that haven’t lowered guidance,

I think we’ve seen a slight relief rally, but I don’t see what there is out there that’s going to lift us beyond that.

I think it’s a marriage made in heaven, … First of all, it gives Allied leadership for the future. Honeywell brings with it some strong management and that was a concern to AlliedSignal shareholders. There...

The issues that have captured investors’ attention over the last few weeks have cooled down, but they’re still there. We don’t think the market is in a dire situation, but we don’t think we’re in...

The main thing is the economic news looks like its steadily improving and that should continue to help stocks.

I think today is a day of portfolio window dressing, with asset managers making sure they don’t have cash sitting around for the end of the year, which tends to be favorable for stocks.

This is a very cyclical business. If an acquirer takes on debt to do this, there is high risk in that. They could be taking on a lot of debt and restructuring costs just at...

Markets don’t go straight up, nor should they. What we’re seeing today is very necessary. You want to see a series of small ups and smaller downs, with new investors coming back in and buying...

I think the August Fed meeting is a big overhang. And certainly the direction from that meeting will influence where the market goes. We could get into a bit of a summer doldrums here with...

Oil is likely to stay in the $40’s and that is likely to result in a flat stock market for the time being, … Unless crude can break out of that range, I think we’re...

The talk is that the Fed is going to be getting more aggressive soon, and may start raising rates by 50 basis points at a time. It’s not going to happen this time, because (Fed...

So the message here, spread your investments around, … If you’ve gotten hurt this year in technology, learn from that and diversify your investments.

Obviously very leveraged to the financial markets, … When stocks are going up, this stock should do better than the market. When stocks go down, it should do worse than the market. So, there is...

I just think there’s nothing that’s come out over the last couple of days that counters the primary issues (that) the market has been punished for over the last couple of months, which is loss...

I’d say the biggest concern right now is certainly oil. The gas pump is squeezing the consumer and the consumer is what has kept the economy going.

The impression is that corporations are being increasingly cautious in their projections for the first quarter, which is a trend that you’ve seen for the last few quarters. I think the companies are taking current...

A lot of people are calling for a correction since we’ve had a pretty uninterrupted run since mid-November, and that would actually be healthy for the market, … But when you hear everyone forecasting a...

Oil up two percent and Wal-Mart lowering expectations set a negative tone pretty much from the beginning of the day.

(We like) stocks with a moderately high dividend give that stock support. So, companies like the tobacco stocks, if you can handle the ethical issue of investing in tobacco, which we certainly do for our...

Ford Motor warned Friday and that type of news is pressuring stocks,

I thought Dell had good numbers, and it likely shows that they have taken share in a lot of key areas. While that’s good for Dell, I don’t think it takes the sting out of...

We’re seeing volume but no volatility in prices. And I think that just shows you that a lot of people are away and people are not making major moves. But next week, when everyone comes...

It’s the type of week where we’re going to see slow volume and basically a half day Wednesday and a dead Friday.

There have been few negative pre-announcements and a number of positive ones, … Third-quarter earnings should be strong and that should continue to support the stock market. But there will always be pullbacks and volatility....

The market can find something good and something bad in every economic number. If the number is strong, that’s a positive, but if its really strong, people may worry about interest rates.

We’re seeing the same thing that we saw in October during the last earnings period, where investors used mostly good news as a reason to take profits.

Everyone is expecting a 25-basis point rise. The mantra has been measured and we expect it to continue to be measured.

Oil continues to be a big influence on the market, and the Fed is as well. As inflation goes, so goes the Fed.

This is a pulp and paper stock, which is very leveraged to economic improvement, … That’s certainly a stock we like a lot.

Oil still remains the big uncertainty out there for the market, … I think the attack in Saudi Arabia and worries about Friday’s OPEC meeting are unsettling financial markets.

Light sweet crude is over $45 a barrel now, and that’s a big drag on various parts of the economy. I think at some point, the price of oil falls and that sets off a...

We think we’ve seen the height of the litigation concerns here. We think we’re on a down track here,

Oil was down a lot on the day and that certainly helped the market to support recent gains. There’s also money moving from bonds to stocks here, with bonds retreating after the August run.