Sam Stovall Market Quotations

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.

An investor who was long the market from November to April, but then adopted a defensive approach by rotating into either the S&P Consumer Staples or Health Care sectors during May through October, would have found ... that the returns were well worth the effort.

December is one of the best months of the year for retailers. Of the past four years, retailers have beaten the market. Typically, everyone says the Christmas season is going to be horrible and they don't want to be in retailers, only to see December do very well for the market and even better for retailers.

There's a lot more uncertainty now, ... And we've had 18 months of price advances -- that could just be setting us up for a renewal of the defensiveness the market goes through during the May-Oct. period.

Foremost on investors' minds is the elevated price of oil. It appears to us that the $40 per barrel level represents a 'line in the sand' above which the equity market retreats and below which the market breathes a sigh of relief.

It's an industry that does not experience a change in demand whether the economy is expanding or contracting, or whether the market is rising or falling. When you die, you die. The only difference could be the families of the one who passed away, if times are tough, could opt for a less expensive funeral.

In this cyclical bull market that's been in place since October 2002, we haven't had a big pullback.

If you were to buy those industries that in the prior 12 months had beaten the S&P 500, if you had purchased those, held them for another 12 months, you indeed over the past 10 years would have beaten the market seven of those 10 times.

The market does not seem to be worried about the long-term effects of the hurricane. It seems that we're seeing again today that the market really wants to move higher.

The market has been in an irritable mood. If earnings and guidance are good, and there are no reasons to sell, then things should work out OK.