Steve Neimeth Quotations

In light of Intel's very disappointing earnings, it makes IBM's numbers look that much better and makes it look like a possible safe haven for tech investors.

The big picture is that the economy is accelerating and we live in a consumer-driven economy. It seems pretty obvious what the best way is to play this.

Good news out of 'mega-cap' companies like Exxon and Wal-Mart is clearly a positive for the market.

It looks like each underlying division was very strong, especially the closely watched imaging division, which is the key to the valuation of the company. In addition, overall margins were better.

It looks like a lot of investors made quarter-end adjustments yesterday as they put cash to use at the quarter's end. Today it seems like the economic news wasn't particularly surprising and the energy markets were relatively flat.

Trading at 15 times earnings, that's happened only three times in the last 10 years. Later in those same years, stocks moved up to 20 times earnings. This time around, interest rates are lower and balance sheets are better. Historically, the stock market has a decent chance to move higher.

The No. 1 driver for equities is corporate profit growth. Inflation is subdued, which suggests higher energy prices are not trickling through.

IBM's numbers looked very good. Intel's the ugly one because the worry is many investors are expecting higher corporate spending to offset potential weakness in consumer spending.

People are probably taking a wait-and-see approach before the Fed, and the market's taking a breather after last week.

You can call this the good, the bad and the ugly.