Barry Hyman Retail Quotations

Next week's retail sales numbers and inflation numbers are going to be some key statistics to give us a little bit more input into where the Fed stands.

Retail sales numbers were stronger than expected, and that shows that consumer are still spending, and I think that is weighing on the market today and it should. But it's not weighing on the Nasdaq, where you're seeing those really good earnings reports. People really regard tech as the place to make money.

Based upon how we've seen retail stocks perform, any continued low (consumer confidence) number puts a crimp in the Christmas spending story.

I think we are still in a consolidation period, ... and I think we can't afford to overlook the impact of the economic news on the market. You had a retail sales number this morning that was in line but nothing spectacular and a rise in jobless claims.

You have to be careful. There are not many sectors that are doing well out there. This is a slowing economy. People are looking for security of earnings. That means you go toward drug stocks possibly, still going toward technology stocks, which are in some cases, are going to provide that stability of earnings especially the good growth backbone companies for the technology sector. Avoid cyclical stocks, avoid retail stocks. Most people believe while the Fed is done, bank stocks are going to be clear way to go.

The tame retail sales outlook helped the bond market. The market rewarded that with a very strong day. Financials and technology stocks righted themselves. We're on the cusp of taking out some important resistance levels.

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.