Marc Pado Economic Quotations

From now on, strong economic numbers threaten another rate hike. Weak numbers point to profit disappointments. What the bull market needs is a catalyst, which would likely need to be a break in energy and basic materials prices.

It will take some strong earnings and bullish forecasts, as well as positive economic data, to keep the rally going. There are plenty of economic data and earnings releases to sway market opinion from hour to hour and day to day. Behind it all, there is the rising threat of geopolitical tensions with Iran and higher interest rates out of the Federal Reserve.

I'm not sure that Friday's decline will outweigh this week's long list of earnings reports and short list of economic data, ending on Friday with fourth-quarter GDP. Crude is making investors nervous, and by the end of the week, the FOMC meeting on the following Tuesday will also be a major cause for concern.

If you're down 10 percent and you time it appropriately, then you could be up 18 percent at the end of the year as opposed to 8 percent. That's why I'd look at whether the economic signals corroborate the technical signals.

The market had been ignoring the recent run in crude, brushing it off as temporary emotional buying as a hedge against economic sanctions against Iran. Whatever the reason, oil is back up against all-time highs, and that was making the markets nervous.