Alan Ackerman Vest Quotations

We appear to be in a summer swoon in which investors are beginning to realize it's going to take a lot longer to turn the economy around than expected, and that we're currently going to have to bear through a series of pre-announcements that are less than comfortable,

I like two stocks, Apache and Ocean Energy. I don't own either of them. The firm doesn't make a market in any of them. We don't have an investment banking relationship, to the best of my knowledge, but I think both stocks have done well in the poor market, ... Apache is really building a pipeline of reserves. They drill in seven major countries. They're natural gas rich. They have held in this market and I think we can look for big earnings coming up over the next year or two.

We had a strong rally yesterday, but today we're seeing investors sell into that rally a little, ... We're in a trading market. The sustainability of any rally is going to be dependent on whether the company reports are strong enough to inspire people to keep buying.

My feeling is the Fed hasn't clearly indicated that it's fighting a slower economy rather than inflation. Economists and individual investors would like to see the Fed cut rates by 75 basis points and I do believe that would take some of the pressure off the consumer.

Traders and investors feel more comfortable with the value sector of the market, ... What we're seeing is a two-tiered market.

It's all about the Fed. It's all about interest rate jitters. It's all about a lot of money moving to the sidelines. And more importantly, we're starting to see investor paralysis. Volume is light. Not too many people want to put money to work until the Fed meets on the 28th,

It gave sellers a chance to lighten up a bit, ... On balance, this just appears to be investors taking a breather.

Retail investors appear to be slower to commit funds to the market this time, ... The market's momentum and volatility has caused some investors to step aside as the market has worked lower.

When a company reverses itself in this manner, it puts investors ill at ease,

Earnings, by and large, are what investors are hanging their hats on, ... Some earnings improvements have prompted some optimism, but we'll know more about that next week.

IBM's announcement today hopefully is a harbinger of things to come. Investors need to know there's a sense of value among market leaders. IBM stepped up to the plate, and the market seemed to have rallied on the news and inspired other investors.

IBM's announcement today hopefully is a harbinger of things to come, ... Investors need to know there's a sense of value among market leaders. IBM stepped up to the plate, and the market seemed to have rallied on the news and inspired other investors.

The Nasdaq appears to be probing for a bottom, ... The more erratic the Nasdaq is, the more attractive the old economy stocks appear to be for investors who want to be risk averse.

The market itself turned around. Mood, momentum and money flow are still positive, ... is reacting to a sense of investors not wanting to miss the train.

For the moment it's a blue-chip gain, ... The economy is showing signs of improving, but techs are still lagging. So there's more safety for investors in blue chips.

Investors are likely to say, 'Aha! Merrill tried to pull the wool over our eyes,' ... It will make them even more suspicious and cautious.

Investors are being cautiously optimistic. There's a desire to put money back into the market based on a feeling that the worst of the economy may be behind us, ... However, there's not enough evidence of that.

Investors are back to looking at the economy, corporate earnings, and unfortunately the continued saga of corporate shenanigans,

Next week will be very tense, full of sadness and recollections about Sept. 11 ... Prudent investors may not want to commit money until after we cross that date.