Charles Crane Quotations

We've seen very satisfactory earnings growth. There's a hope that the Fed is close to the end of its tightening campaign.

We've seen a lot of jumping around in stocks the last three or four sessions, and I think we'll see more of the same next week.

Second quarter earnings are very likely to be satisfactory in aggregate. A number of visible companies have warned of disappointments, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Earnings growth will probably be in the high-teens range when everything is tallied up.

Of course I'll look at it; it will be useful information.

Next week I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the bulls will come back from the beach and do a little buying.

News of some sort of explosion over in the Middle East was conveniently coincidental with the market downturn, so I've got to think that had something to do with it.

If the Fed is on the warpath with an eye to slowing the economy and trying to blunt inflation before it becomes a problem, by slowing the economy the Fed is hoping to address any imbalances between supply and demand, specifically for labor. It feels to me like the market is starting to look beyond the impact of the Fed and setting ourselves up for a second half where the wrestling match will not be between interest rates and valuations but rather between earnings and valuations.

I think we could re-write the book a little bit. The other sort of traditional way of looking at the market is that you get a summer rally. And I suspect that we will get a positive bias to this market at some point in time over the next couple of months. However, I do think that you're probably in that quieter period for news and developments in the technology sector.

I think that we are seeing some terrific earnings coming out of the technology sector here in the second quarter. The reality is that earnings are going to remain good in the second half of the year. The question on everybody's mind is are they going to be good enough to meet expectations.

I think the advice to any investor is try to block out as much macro noise as you can but resist the temptation to think this is a market bottom -- it's a lottery ticket.

I think they are. I think that the Fed either finished its tightening for this cycle, or it has 25 basis points to go in a couple of weeks. I do not see the Fed tightening further in August.

My broad advice is to concentrate on individual issues as opposed to trying to predict where the market is going. Making market calls is of very little value whatsoever.

Most analysts expect it to be a bumpy earnings season. A few negative surprises could cause a little indigestion for stocks.

We've had a lot of good news in the last couple of months. Most recently, we had the Fed hold the line, we had another employment report that was reasonable and now we've had gold plunge -- all of which have been encouraging to the bond market. Stocks have come along with the bond market.

There doesn't seem to be any one trigger. The idea of technology being such a high growth area is true but maybe revenue growth isn't as robust as anticipated. It's more one of anxiety by investors that evidence is mounting the Fed may need to be more aggressive.

Even in an overvalued market, you'll still be able to find good stocks to buy. The market still looks okay.

Every silver lining has a cloud. All the glasses that seemed half-full 12 months ago look half-empty now.

The sector that will lead the pack is energy. All energy prices are high. And as one domino falls, many other tend to follow. The oil service sector will enjoy the benefits of higher oil prices too.

The sooner we can line up company A against company B and have some modicum of evidence the books have been prepared in a similar fashion, the better off the market is going to be. Even if the bottom line ends up looking mighty lean.

As long as value remains stretched in the more speculative end of technology, anything that blemishes it will prompt an emotional sell-off.

Any time you get more than one central banker in a room together the antennas are bound to go up and send a shiver down the market's spine.

The irony of all this summer rally is that the more vigorous it gets the higher the odds are that Mr. Greenspan continues to tighten the screws. And whether that will then lead to a more severe hangover the next morning is what we're all wrestling with.

If there's any doubt about this bull market's stamina, yesterday should have quieted some of those doubts. There was no news, positive or negative, in the marketplace. And yet the Dow rose to an all-time high and the broader market was strong as well.

Interestingly enough, the housing stocks have been on of the strongest sectors this week. I think what's happened is that these stocks were weak prior to where we are right now in the economic cycle because of concerns about Mr. Greenspan and crew raising rates still further. Those concerns have diminished. They haven't completely gone away, but they certainly have diminished in the last few weeks as we've seen more evidence of a cooler economy. Hence, you're starting to see investors say OK, we're probably cruising in for a soft landing and housing should do well in that.

I haven't heard any compelling stories to say that this is anything more than bargain hunting. We're in a period of time where investors are going to be concerned about second-quarter earnings, so I wouldn't extrapolate too much from this.

Investors you should buy a mix of both old and new economy stocks. I don't think you should stick all of your eggs in any one style basket these days. I would also spread my risk between small stocks and large stocks.

The market behaved worse than most anticipated going into this period because the conditions of the economy were worse than any of us judged it to be. Earnings were revised down steadily and that kind of downward revision was not tolerated well.

The growth end seems expensive and the value end doesn't look good either. The overall market has been well supported by enthusiasm for technology but the gloss has been tarnished on the whole technology juggernaut.

All of the government statistics have been far less scary than consensus expectations. (Retail sales) were weaker than anticipated and seem to be consistent with the tone.

The market is looking beyond the event to the future and is anticipating that the Fed has done enough to achieve its goals and we will enjoy a soft landing.

The market is extremely high-strung right now and it's going to react excessively to any news, good or bad. Next week is what I consider to be one of the market's critical weeks. It's going to be a busy week.