Joseph Battipaglia Year Quotations

The positive tone has more to do with the economic data that showed some signs of life in the economy. We've got through the Enron debacle and some selling that represented investors looking to lock in profits earlier on. Now we're starting to get a serious picture of what next year looks like, and it's probably the first serious step toward an upward move in the market.

I like the retail group as a whole because now Wall Street has soured on these companies, ... They're worried about the consumer vitality. But don't forget we have an election coming up in November. That actually stirs confidence, interestingly enough. This could be another good Christmas season. Also this summer, we may not see a drought for most of the country, which means people's spending on home and hearth might be a little better than it was last year when it was so tough outside.

I don't think there's a huge upside in the major indexes after the run we've seen. But there are still good opportunities out there and through the first quarter, it just won't be quite as easy as a year ago.