Joe Liro Quotations

We've had two days of gains to start the year. I think this day is going to be the day for consolidation, and we are in front of tomorrow's payroll numbers.

The market was too sanguine about the Fed moving to the sidelines at the end of the year or under a new chairman. They're going to keep tightening until they get a break in the inflation rate.

Fear of higher rates and higher Treasury yields are the main factors driving markets these days. We've been used to low rates for such a long time that now it seems the market was caught by surprise with yields at these levels. We might see less borrowing and less spending as a result.

We will likely see quite a reversal of the January surge in housing starts during February as a mid-month blizzard blanketed the East Coast under heavy banks of snow.

You have to borrow $2 billion a day to fund that. It's an imbalance that's unsustainable.

They're still very decent, solid numbers and show no threat to the expansion. They're just not as strong as they were.

The consensus going into the quarter was that earnings were going to (rise) somewhere north of 10 percent and they have handily beat expectations.

The two likely things influencing the market (this) week is the direction of energy prices and the impression that the Fed is going to stop raising rates.

The longer the oil prices stay at this level, the more of a weight it puts on the market. That said, unemployment claims reflect the current strength of the economy. But the perception is that the current strength cannot be sustained with oil prices at these levels. As a result, the market is having a hard time making much progress to the upside.

The investor will be sensitive to any signs that the sharp spike in energy prices is going to derail the consumer sector, the overall economy and corporate profit growth in the fourth quarter.