Ken Tower Quotations

We are at the top of a trading range. Everyone's willing to be bullish, but is the cash there to provide the energy the bulls need? Or is the December high the high-water mark? Dow 11,000 is one of the hooks the bulls will use to try and attract more money into the market.

We are at a major crossroads here. If we are unable to break out of this trading range to the upside soon, then there is a danger that we could quickly slide back down again to the lows.

There is no person on the planet who is going to be able to fill Greenspan's spot without a test, ... I'm not sure that it's a coincidence that the market crash of 1987 happened two months after Greenspan took office.

Yesterday's high now become key resistance. Because the longer term trends all remain up, there are lots of support zones below current prices. The big Nasdaq stocks have been the weak link in the rally, as demonstrated again yesterday by being the only major average to fall.

This rally is very fragile, as it is being led once again by energy stocks and not technology or finance. This is no time for the bulls to relax.

This proved the spark to push the market higher. It was great news.

We're set up for a nice little rally, however, how long it can last is unclear.

Only 10 New York Stock Exchange stocks made new lows yesterday, so it's clear that there is a great deal of underlying market strength. Industrials remain the clear winner, as they reached another new high yesterday. Financials had a huge rally and also closed at a new high. Leadership will eventually shift back to tech, energy and basic materials, but we're not there yet.

More likely is that we'll get some sort of advance that takes the market to new highs.

Neither bulls nor bears seem to be making any headway, unless you look at the Dow.

Right now, it's the yield curve that everyone will be watching. Now we're wondering what type of economic growth we'll have going forward. For investors, it's always possible that this time will be different, but we still have to be defensive going into 2006.

I'd like to see the market turnaround right here, hold Friday's lows and move higher, ... If we don't hold (the lows) it's a real strong sign that you got to take this market lower to get it fully oversold.

I feel that it's very important here for the bulls to show that they can keep pushing this market forward.

This was one of the last areas of technology that still had the great, glory days of April going for it. The market is just not willing to put up with those high P/Es and is shooting them down one by one.

What would make me more optimistic is if there was evidence that money on the sidelines is being put to work. But I'm not convinced.

Unless we get a negative surprise on a piece of economic data that's really out of the ordinary, then it's going to be a subdued week with the Fed meeting right around the corner.

I think the market's sending a very clear signal that it wants to move higher,

I think there is a wait-and-see attitude about next week's Fed meeting. Investors are thinking that perhaps the recent weaker-than-expected employment report means that the Fed is near the end of its rate-hiking cycle, but I don't think that's the case.

I think the question the market is struggling with is whether we are concerned about inflation and too strong an economy, or if the Fed is raising interest rates too much and cooling things off. So we have a little pause in the market today as it tries to work this question out.

Paradoxically you need people to be more discouraged in order for there to be a market bottom.

Liz Claiborne is one; Tommy Hilfiger is another; Jones New York. There are a lot of them that look good now, ... People aren't going to spend their money on some things, but they're spending it on others.

Longer term I'm bearish, but I'm pretty optimistic for next week.

Maybe that is the first chink in the armor of the uptrend of crude oil prices,

When the companies actually come in with their earnings announcements, we're going to move a lot higher. I think when investors look through the rubble after the correction we've seen they are going to find some real good values.

Yesterday was a disaster for the bulls. We're right back to the lows we've seen lately, and until we fall through those, it's bad but not devastating.

With the technical picture so cloudy you may be tempted to sit this one out and wait for clear evidence of whether market direction is naughty or nice before initiating either long or short positions.

The presumption is the bond market is smarter than the stock market. I'm not saying it's always true, but there's a reason that the bond market tends to lead the stock market.

Finally, the market got a reaction after that water torture of a decline in July. People reacted, which is very good in terms of looking for a bottom.

Financials led the sector rally yesterday. Tech has been getting a lot of bullish press recently, but its relative performance continues to suffer. It's premature to put this into the leading sector category.

We're thinking that yesterday's rally will probably go back down and test the low today... So, this afternoon, we're looking again probably for the market to sell off.

Today we should get some idea of just how strong the bears are. Yesterday's lack of reaction implies traders don't think the bears have much of a game here.

We had a really strong rally, ... and there's the likelihood of seeing a significant correction through the end of October.

The recent stock rally was fueled by the idea that the Fed is nearly done and I am concerned that such a hope could be in trouble. If the economy is growing faster than investors are expecting, that could be a problem.

You have to be a little nervous about this number. This is going to do nothing but make us focus more on next week's Fed meeting as investors keep searching about inflation clues.

What's happening in front of us right now is discouraging, but the market's telling us that these will be short-term disruptions.

Today's rise is a good sign. What we're seeing is that the bulls are not dead and the market had bounced off key short-term lows, which is what you would expect from an uptrend.

Even though the news has been dismal this week, investors have to keep an eye on the July Lows.

At this point, any rally is a good rally. You need to see more strength in the Nasdaq to confirm that there really was a significant bottom, but there are an awful lot of stocks doing very well.

At this moment the Fed would like to stop raising rates. But if the employment cost index shows too much wage inflation, then the inflation hawks will make it hard for them to stop.

And Wrigley has been very strong for some time, continues to move higher, ... Just had another breakout to a new high. There are lots of stocks in this market that are doing quite well. They just aren't technology stocks.

Employment cost is below expectations, which should encourage the Federal Reserve at next week's meeting to maintain a balanced approach.

I see the whole business cycle slowing down.

I see no signs of weakness in this market at this moment. The historical pattern and the current market trend suggest to me that next week will be a good week for the market.

The whole tech sector jumped after the IBM announcement and it may spark a rally tomorrow. But it's one piece of good news. Could the impact be erased by a subsequent piece of bad news between now and tomorrow? Sure.

These are things that people can be nervous about and, yes, they're concerns. But let's face it: the world has trouble almost every day. It's probably not a major factor for our market.

Technically, we've been very optimistic about the market bottoming out right now. Since the July lows, this is a double bottom, so we're still very optimistic,

Technical indicators help investors avoid downward spirals like Enron. That being said, I don't pay much attention to news. I pay attention to how investors react to news. A good or bad reaction is more important than the news itself.

Technical indicators help investors avoid downward spirals like Enron, ... That being said, I don't pay much attention to news. I pay attention to how investors react to news. A good or bad reaction is more important than the news itself.

Despite yesterday's broad advance, trader sentiment remains sober.

A new Fed chairman is an unknown and as such offers nervous investors an excuse to sell.

As far as we can tell, the bull market is alive and well.

You're seeing the fast money shift around a bit, and short term, that's good for stocks. Longer term, you have to consider that at some point, energy prices are going to catch up to the economy and the market.

You might be inclined to explain away last week's weakness by noting the low volume and people on vacation, but the historical record of year-end rallies was built on similar conditions. More likely, the absence of sideline cash will become a common problem throughout the year.

This is a really tricky time for investors, because there is such a strong seasonal tendency for markets to struggle.

This is pretty much a continuation of what we've seen for four months now. The value stocks are doing better and people are moving out of technology.

A capitalist economy goes through cycles, and 2000 was the peak in the latest cycle, which had lots of similarities to the 1960s and the 1920s. Now we're somewhere in this sort of troublesome period like the 1970s.

It's all about supply and demand, and if you've got no demand for stocks, prices are going lower.

It's not that everything is perfect. But the overall tone of the economy and the level of both consumer and corporate confidence is quite high.

For many, the bullish case for next year is partly dependent on the Fed stopping its rate hiking. But historically, the Fed stopping isn't necessarily bullish for stocks. It's when the Fed lowers rates that it's bullish.

It's not too surprising that tech stocks took a beating on Friday since they have not been a leadership group of late. While tech has been languishing, basic materials, energy and industrial stocks have been reaching new highs. These may be tiring, but it seems too early to abandon them yet.

It's only Chinese water torture to people who hold the Dow. For those in the Nasdaq it's an incredible party.

They haven't so much moved their money out of the markets as they have moved it from one place to another.

There's this almost universal sense that we're in this big cap-ex spending cycle and the big stocks should be moving on that, but they haven't been.

The Fed is going to have a hard time stopping their (rate) increases if the economy seems to be gaining strength.

The Fed is going to have a hard time stopping their increases if the economy seems to be gaining strength. I think the Fed will have a very hard time talking down the inflation hawks if the data comes in stronger than expected.

The correction is likely to go on for another month or two, ... before there's really a compelling reason for investors and traders to move more money from the sidelines into the markets.

In my experience the market doesn't remain trapped in that kind of narrow trading range for long. So expect the market to break out. But which way?

I'm left with the sense that this is a trading-range market, not a larger decline. The major averages are now coming down to their late August lows, which are presumably the low end of this trading range. There wasn't any real sign of a reversal yesterday, but support is nearby and downside leadership is poor.

If (Microsoft) can stay above 80, then the whole broad sector of technology stocks may have bottomed out this week and had a re-test low and be ready to turn higher.

Investors remain skeptical of the rally that began in April. Therefore, the rally could restart.

Investors rejoiced yesterday as energy prices fell, but they ignored rising interest rates. I don't think it will be too long before the focus shifts back to rising rates and an inverted yield curve.

If there were really fundamental problems out there, the market would drop much more quickly. Instead, it can't get out of its own way. It's pushing a big boulder up the hill, and then it slides back down at the end of the day. It's just unable to really get any momentum going.

These is certainly some life in the Nasdaq stocks. The heavy growth story is getting some play.

These hearings have an impact on investor psychology, they make people nervous, and that's why we're having a rally at the close.

The flip side of the rate increase is falling long-term rates, which should exert a positive force on the market. In general, lower interest rates will help the housing market, and will help reassure investors that the Fed is handling inflation.

The chart looks awful on Intel, ... It may be a great buy but it's too early to see.

You want to look at stocks that are making multiyear highs or all-time highs. Those companies have a lot of support out there in the investment community. People think these companies are doing well, but if you want to buy a stock that's up from $1 to $3, maybe they survive and maybe they don't, that's just a riskier approach.

The four stocks you are adding have done much better than the four you are taking out, and they have much better prospects.

The market was ripe for some good news to provide an excuse for the rally. If it wasn't (Greenspan), it would have been something else.

The market strength is good right now, but when I look ahead, I'm feeling rather torn right now. My forecast this year is for a bear market, but for now, I'm willing to give the bulls the benefit of the doubt.

The market may not be able to overlook Intel's warning, but the fact that it's able to absorb the negative news without a steep price decline is a positive signal.

The market has been stuck in a very tight trading range for a month. Yesterday's NYSE volume of just over a billion shares makes me nervous. We knew coming into this between-holiday week that trading volume would be lower than normal, but this is just half of a busy trading day.

The market is reacting to disappointment in some of the earnings reports and also to the stronger-than-expected economic data that came out.