Hugh Johnson Decline Quotations

Hardware, software and semiconductors are the three top-performing groups right now, and there has been a decline in oil prices. These things are pushing the markets up.

The decline will divert capital flows away from U.S. investments.

The reason for the (technology) decline is the combination of the Cisco earnings and the comments from CEO John Chambers. He basically said what Intel said recently: that customers are getting very cautious and that spending on technology is slowing.

It's a big drop, a very substantial drop. The magnitude of the decline is a surprise.

The combination of a decline in oil prices, however slight, and some fairly upbeat comments (by Fed officials), may have led Fed watchers to conclude the Fed may raise interest rates at its meeting in May, and then stop.