Matt Ruane Quotations

We're seeing a little bounce from oversold conditions, with stocks not being down quite as much as they were this morning, but it's still nasty out there. We're in a bear market, where we have these false rallies on a little short-covering, but there's nothing on the horizon to push it past that. It's also the end of the quarter, so you've got a lot of people sitting on the sidelines.

More and more companies are going to be scrutinized in the coming months, but despite all this gloom and doom, the market is holding up pretty well with a few notable exceptions, like WorldCom.

I would have liked to see the market sell off even more in order to form the basis for a better rally, but I think we could possibly get a bounce from these levels in the next day or two.

But this is a normal pullback after the run up we've seen in October. I wouldn't read too much into it.

Bush's comments provided some short-term comfort. But shortly after, we sold back down again.

We've been trading sideways for months, and until we get some sort of resolution with Iraq, we're going to keep trading in fits and starts.

We're really in a trading range, drifting sideways for the time being as the market waits for its next catalyst.

You have pretty light volume ahead of the Fed meeting. You also had the Dow have one of its best weeks in 15 years last week, so you're going to see some pullback from that. Airlines are down again and it's pressuring the broader market, particularly the Dow. US Airways' filing wasn't a surprise but it still sets a negative tone.

We're in a bear market. You're going to see these little rallies on short-covering, but there's nothing (else) on the horizon to push us past that right now.

The semiconductors are lifting on very dismal volume, with very few people acting before the anniversary. It's a continuation of yesterday, and clearly there is a little money going into semis, but it's going to be a long, long time before there is any real growth in the sector.

There's a lot of nervousness on the political front and that's keeping the buyers out of the market. We've got 50 significant companies reporting results this week - but at this point, bad news is almost good news, because it's so built in to people's expectations.

There's also still some money being put to work out there for solid companies with good fundamentals. It's just really selective.

There's a lot of skittishness about the Middle East, with crude prices up above $27. We're not going to see the situation get as dire as it did in the '70s, because we get oil from more sources now, but you will see prices continue to rise and markets will keep feeling the effects.

It's a surprise reversal today after the labor number this morning. The resignation of O'Neill was certainly a positive for the market. That was clearly the catalyst. The market was also getting a little oversold. And you have some good participation from tech.

It's a short-covering rally, short term, typical of a bear market.

It's all Texas Instruments today. After IBM and Intel last week, we're seeing tech take two steps forward, one step back.

It's all about the Bush plan today. Any stocks that pay dividends are doing well today, particularly telecoms and utilities. But I hope that this is not a short-term solution. A range of $300 billion to $600 billion is pretty murky. We're going to have to hope that it comes in on the high end or there's going to be disappointment.

Stocks had a nice run and now we're seeing across-the-board profit taking, which is healthy. Reports of Cheney's comments didn't help, but we would be seeing a little selling anyway.

The near term out of these companies is shaky. It's the forecast for higher growth in the second half that is really bringing markets higher today. People are seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel.

The key here is still commodities. Oil has been above $30 a barrel for what, the last 90 days?. Commodity prices need to come down. Wholesale numbers yesterday were high because of energy, because of oil. It's a concern. It's a drag on the economy and the dollar.

The economic news helps, but I don't know if this is more than a short-covering rally. If there was something more substantial that could sustain us for two or three days, I would be a believer, but I just don't see anything out there.

The durable goods made it look like the market was ready for a jump, but confidence knocked it back down. We're also in the worst of the summer doldrums. Then, Intel is also putting a damper on things. Markets tried to rally earlier, but couldn't because of Intel. The stock could probably hit its 52-week low soon.