Al Goldman Quotations

The possessed kid in 'The Exorcist,' whose head spins around.

The performance of the major stock averages didn't make anyone happy in 2005. But when you consider what the markets had to contend with, treading water is not so bad.

When you throw rotten tomatoes at a queen bee like Cisco, it splashes over on everyone else.

What they like is that the Fed came close to saying that the rate hikes are over.

What has been going on is a very sharp reaction to a slowing economy.

There are some signs of fatigue. We're still in a bull market but it's important to remember that it's over 27 months old. We can't expect it to rock and roll the way it did even a couple of months ago.

The productivity number came in better than expected and there were fewer jobless claims than forecast.

We had a very big celebration yesterday but there is still a lot of fear in the market. We got above 11,000 and now we're retesting it in a very normal pause to refresh.

Second quarter earnings are going to be a very pleasant surprise. A quarter point increase won't even cause the economy to sneeze. It's so modest it will not be a factor.

Selling pressure was broad as the market extended its current modest setback to three days.

My feeling is the economy is going to slow, either on its own or by the Fed. If you think interest rates are going to be raised steadily, that's not good for anybody, but a modest increase does not hurt technology.

Pfizer's a great company, great track record. The economy is slowing, so I think money is going to see defensive growth stocks like the pharmaceuticals and I really don't care what Al Gore thinks about supposedly big drug companies. We're going to have gridlock in Washington and there's not going to be any radical legislation no matter who is in the White House.

On one side, we've got pretty good economic fundamentals. On the either side, we have all the problems that are keeping everybody depressed -- Iraq, Iran, the price of oil.

If we find him dead, I think the Dow goes up 100 points and it's a short-term top. If we catch him alive, the market goes up maybe 50 points and then goes down.

IBM ( IBM : Research , Estimates ) is a very well-managed company, it looks to us like the shares have made a bottom, that the short-term trend is improving, that momentum is improving. And the company has had some disappointing comments to make. But that's already in the price of the stock. And the stock is down some 40-ish percent from its high, and very well managed.

There is a high degree of low confidence in the marketplace and nobody is looking beyond the end of their noses. They're responding minute by minute to things.

There is no economic justification to raise rates. There is no sign that prices can go up much in this competitive environment? Raise rates or not raise rates, I feel that the market will continue its appointed rounds on the up side.

I think the main thing that's going right for the market is that we still have a very healthy economy, with rising earnings and benign inflation. On a technical side, I think the correction ended three weeks ago. The market has been slowly recovering its sea legs. We had five days up in a row on the Nasdaq composite, and that is the reason why the profit taking yesterday. But the big picture still remains very positive,

I think we could see the Dow close at 11,000 and the S&P close at 1,300. We could get some bad news but based on what I know right now, I think those are reasonable levels to attain.

I think we are transitioning from a bearish mood to a bullish mood,

I think that markets are doing well considering everything we're going through. We're going to be in a tight trading range with a few pops upward here and there for the next few weeks, but we're going to come out of this (period) better off.

People are beginning to feel like the boat is leaving the dock -- there is a lot of money on the sidelines. The bottom line is we are transitioning from a bear mood to a bull mood, but it doesn't go straight up. Bear markets stink, but it creates very good opportunities for intermediate to long-term investors.

We need a mind shift to looking beyond the valley to the peaks ahead. We have to look at the history of the nation after it's faced other horrible disasters. We always come back bigger and better.

We can't expect it to dance all night like it did three or four years ago. It's not a teenager anymore. But it's still a bull based on good fundamentals.

We do have preconditions in place for that turnaround in sentiment.

Yesterday was a classic buying opportunity and those who didn't buy yesterday or sold, are regretting it today. The big picture is still a bull.

We're already in a bear market for small- and mid-cap stocks. Big caps have been in a Super Bowl market and we are correcting that.

You are getting some long-overdue profit taking in the technology sector, and the cyclical stocks are having their day in the sun.

Today's rally was supported by better-than-expected earnings reports and strong economic data.

We have a very nervous investment environment. The excuse is bond rates are up and there is increased concern about the financial futures market, which appears to be predicting three more rate hike for the Fed funds.

We are in a state of semi-panic in the markets. A lot of irrational depression and a lot of irrational selling is going on.

We are in a market that is momentum driven with money chasing a few stocks, particularly Internets and high-techs.

We sense that the sell-off is behind us and the market has the preconditions in place for a pretty good year-end rally, ... It's not going to be fabulous because we've already done an awful lot since Sept. 11.

Wall Street likes it when Uncle Sam stands tall. Wall Street likes a little war when we're in the right. It makes us feel good about our country and ourselves.

We paid our respects today to the employment figures.

We have been and we remain in a very powerful bull market, ... in near term basis, the market has come long way in short period of time? and odds favor a bit of a time-out in the next week.

When bull markets and economies start putting on some age, the bigger-name defensive growth stocks get more attention.

When you get disappointments on companies that are selling at 60, 80, 100 times earnings, you get more room to fall.

We've had a strong economy for four years now and no inflation, so I don't see inflation as a problem, ... The market went into the tank early today because the message was our correction just wasn't over yet and then, of course, pressure from the techs.

We've had a dramatic rally this year, and we're getting a normal pause today. The companies that are pulling back are the ones that have had very good runs. So far, that's the message of the market.

Two emotions rule the stock market ? one is greed and one is fear. In March 2000, greed was extreme, the market was at record highs and people were yelling 'where has this gain been all my life?' But by February, early March of this year (2001), fear had reached a an extremely high level, reaching a crescendo on March 22.

Uncertainty in Washington has greased the slide downward.

We do not think the Fed will raise rates at their meeting at the end of this month.

Everybody knows that the economy is going to do better sometime, that the stock market will recover sometime. It's a question of when you are ready to make a bet.

Earnings are ancient history. The first quarter is under our belt. The market is now looking to the fourth quarter and ahead.

Drug companies are being hit by the Merck trial. But since their valuations are still cheap, we might see a sharp rebound in their stock prices soon.

Earlier this year, home-builder stocks were going up like Superman. Today's drop in the home sales report provided a good excuse for managers to finally sell those stocks and lock in some profits.

Fluctuation is normal after a run-up. The economic news is not good and it's not going to be good for a while, but we are in recovery mode.

There's only one reason to buy stocks and that is to participate in a company's growth of earnings and I don't know any sector of the economy that offers superior growth prospects looking out two, three, four, five years than technology and selected Internet stocks. It's been working for 10 years now and I'm not going to buck a trend like that. You buy dips. We had one heck of a dip that reached a crescendo last week and people who bought Friday or early Monday have reaped very nice profits.

These are the personalities of a market getting in the areas of a bottom.

The sector is notorious for over-reacting - both up and down - and now we are getting a little realistic. But I think the buying opportunity is going to be sooner rather than later.

Right now this is a market based on sound fundamentals. I do not see any irrational exuberance. I see intelligent buying. Somewhere out there we will get into a blow-off stage but when that will come is totally unpredictable. Therefore, I'll worry about it when market action starts to change.

Our economy is doing well despite what is going on in Asia, and with any signs of improvement from there, it could be up, up and away for us.

The Nasdaq, which is largely driven by tech stocks, has soared 24 percent in the past three-week period, so today we're seeing some profit-taking as the market is refreshing.

After four days of selling, a giveback of about half of the gains of the first seven days of the new year and a big increase in gloom, we look for a rally attempt.

After our selling climax on Friday, we've had a couple pretty good days that brought in cash aggressively off the sidelines. This market is just acting better because of its own internal devices, not because of any specific development. There's good value and money coming in, which is impressive.

The mood in the market is one of a high level of caution. When you get some selling coming in, it's almost like a chain reaction -- it builds on itself.

A number of the high tech names are getting smacked real good. It was already a market where investors were nervous already. With the darlings getting hit, that raises the anxiety level.

And the Fed is in business for one reason only, and that is to try and control inflation.

Applied Material's multiple is bound to -- down to something like 15 times forward-looking earnings. The multiple less in the overall market and it's a great company with dynamic growth prospects.

Anyone who isn't worried about an attack on our homeland just doesn't have a pulse.

The bottom line is the market ran too far too fast, and we have to remove the excesses. Believe it or not, although corrections are no fun, they do improve the health of the long-term bull market.

A wet blanket was provided by the Palm offering.

You're going to buy Campbell's soup whether or not you have a job,

This bull has shown us for more than seven years that when it pulls back it bends a little but doesn't break. You get a small price discount and buyers come right back in. And that's the sign of a bull market that has plenty of life left in it.

This morning's economic numbers were friendly for stocks,

The report was a sign that the Federal Reserve may not need to increase interest rates as high.

This jobs report is what's hitting the market.

There's been more blood being let in the sector than I've seen in long time. Everybody and their shoe shine boy knows we're highly valued in the sector.

It was a surprise although we thought it was a 50-50 chance the Fed would cut before the January meeting. The Fed made a dramatic move today and it was needed. The Fed is now our friend.

It is understandable why confidence is so low with what's gone on in Wall Street, but at the end of the day earnings per share will win the day.

The number one factor next week will be the market's own internal dynamic. In other words, how much more momentum does the market have after going up 1,000 points in one month?

Crank that into a market and it will drag lower than whale droppings at the bottom of the deep blue sea.

Consumer confidence is a blow-out number. It also ought to make people feel better about Christmas sales.

The news so far today would support those who think the Fed is not close to ending its rate hike cycle.

The numbers are very significant for the markets,

It's not going to be a one-way trip. But the bear is dead and we're transitioning from a bear mood to a bull mood.

The big change in this market the last month or so has been a mood shift from 'the glass is half empty' to 'the glass is half full', and that's why we've had a good rally and a very modest time-out to catch our breath.

The best stimulant you can have for a market is an 'up' market, and it feeds on itself. The market is 90 percent emotions, and the mood shifted.

The bears just won't give and I love having bears out there. It keeps the market somewhat healthy.

The bears are going to have another miserable day, and they deserve it. The economic news points out that the economy is slowing from the over-heated pace in the first quarter.

It's been horribly grim this week. There's a high level of gloom and doom in the market and a low level of optimism.

The message of the market today is that there is a lot of money on the sidelines and that money was looking for a reason to buy. And the main reason to buy is that we're going up. Momentum builds on momentum.

The Michigan numbers stink, but it?s behind us. ..they (investors) are responding to the President?s speech last night. They see Katrina as a terrible event, but people are already thinking about the business that it?s going to stimulate.

The Fed sounded a bit less certain about the need for future rate hikes, saying further policy firming 'may' be needed.

The Fed made a dramatic move today and it was needed,

I'm very optimistic on the long bond. The fundamentals are there and the technical underpinnings are still positive.

(Intel) is down but not out. We have a very nervous market and it's the dog days of summer, ... We are short-term overbought so we're giving some of it back with the excuse being Intel.

Investors are taking the easy way out ? they're sitting on their hands. The main confusion is a lack of confidence in just when the economy will turn up and the economy will improve. The prime mood in the market is one of no conviction.

Investors will be focusing on Iran and any developments there, as it might have implications on the price of oil, and of course, the future of the world.

The market hates surprises. But we believe the odds substantially favor that the Fed will not raise interest rates next week, and that the market will take that as some degree of relief, unless they say something nasty. But basically we think we're into a good summer rally.

The market got itself deeply oversold after six months of correction. Now people are looking at fact rather than fiction and seeing the economy has already slowed to a healthy and sustainable rate.

This is not a bad day. We started up and we turned around and now we're doing better.

This is normal and overdue. But we've probably not seen the bottom.

This is long overdue profit taking in the momentum stocks.

A high level of employment is not a negative, it's a positive?. The problem arises if, in fact, it creates wage inflation. And we're not getting that,

The economy is showing definite signs of slowing down to a healthier rate of expansion. I think the reason, good or bad, could be laid at the feet of the Fed.

The economy is growing at a reduced but healthier pace. We don't anticipate any inflation problems, and corporate earnings are going up, up and away. So, yes, we're still bullish.

The futures are flat this morning. We've had eight days of a good rally. The short-term momentum is still up for Wall Street but stocks are looking extended.

The fundamental news and the inflation news remain quite positive. We had that big six-week rally in October. Stocks at this exact moment just don't seem ready to stop this correction.