Sam Stovall Fed Quotations

Possibly we could see a little bit of profit taking because investors had been anticipating that when the Fed does meet next week that they won't raise interest rates,

Basically the top ten industries were those that are economically sensitive and are bouncing back from their deeply oversold condition last year as a result of lower interest rates. We do believe the Fed will remain aggressive with its easing interest rate policy but we feel the earnings are going to be pretty bad for the first quarter, so the market is likely to tread water for awhile.

If the Fed lowers rates next week, the questions become 'How much further can they go?,' 'Is it effective?,' and 'Can the Fed really turn things around?,'

I think investors want to see improvement in the economic data so that the feeling is that the Fed doesn't need to lower interest rates. That in itself is a positive.

Investors are going to look at whatever economic numbers come out and say is this additional fuel for the Fed to lower rates in March. Earnings are going to continue to come out and they're likely to be negative so you're going to have earnings weighing on the market.