Joseph Battipaglia Market Quotations

What happens with Iraq is very important in January and February to pretty much set the tone for how the economy will fare for the rest of the year. So when we have that answer, then you can get your market direction. In the meantime, you essentially move sideways.

We're in this transition period right now, getting ready for interest rates to start rising, which will happen June 30, and for second-quarter profit reporting season to start, which will be early July, ... Those things could get the market going again.

The rally over the past five weeks needed confirmation in the data that the economy is coming along. As long as that data remain inconclusive, the market will be dominated by sellers.

I think there's a real lack of commitment in the market right now from both institutional and individual investors,

We have a lot of difficulty with the telecom service sector, ... It looks like the bad news is localized in that company and that sector. We're at a point where most of the major shocks have been had and the market action today, after the gains over the last few days, is very constructive.

When you look at how the market is trading, the big cap names in the right sectors are leading the market,

CPI data was benign but the data was prior to Hurricane Katrina, ... Still, no one is quite sure about what the Fed is going to do going ahead. So the market is not showing much conviction.

Oil prices at these levels are providing all kinds of dislocation issues for stocks. Earnings and the economic data are O.K., but with oil where it is, the market is unable to make a decision, long or short, and there's certainly no real catalyst for buying.

The bond market still believes that the Fed is an inflation fighter, the bond market still believes that there really isn't inflation today, and they applaud the moves by the Fed to be ready for future,

Investors are not put off now by the onslaught of disappointing earnings expectations. I think we're well through the inflection point where the market will continue to recover, even though earnings estimates will continue to be cut for the next several months.

I don't see them getting much worse than 6-1/4 percent on the long end, ... The overall bond market is not completely convinced that we're going to see meaningful higher interest rates. Something is going to give here, and my sense is that the Fed is not going beyond this second cut.

The market can correct here and work its way down to 7,500. But it's all in the context of proper valuations and a broadening process that will include small and mid-cap stocks.

The market anticipated a very weak third quarter. There was concern this would roll over into an on-going problem. Once we have evidence that it is not and the third quarter comes in a little better than expected, that will be the basis for the next leg up,

The economy has proved itself to be vibrant. Inflation is clearly in the bottle. The dollar is back on track. Japan is struggling again. The Europeans want to get out of recession. Rates don't go up in that environment. We've got a market that is going to go off of earnings with a lot of positive momentum and start to hit new highs.

The market is struggling for new direction. Each new piece of information on the economy is giving mixed signals,

The market is being very rational where it's placing capital and the companies that can grow their unit volume, get revenues and earnings going at a 30 to 40 percent clip are being rewarded accordingly, ... I see nothing irrational about it.