Barry Hyman Meeting Quotations

I think we really have to get to the next Fed meeting before anything significant happens. We have to see the emphasis on a slowing economy, and that's key to seeing that there won't be an open-ended succession of rate hikes.

I think to an extent we've taken for granted the last few Fed meetings, and next week's meeting takes on more significance, ... A quarter-point hike is pretty much expected, but I think the relative bumpiness of the recent economic news could mean the Fed will indicate that rates may not rise as aggressively last year as people had been thinking.

It was unanimous we'd have a year-end rally until the yield curve inverted. We wanted to close the market on a high note this year, but now we're worried that the 2006 market will have to deal with this. The next Federal Reserve meeting will be extremely critical. We have to hope this isn't predictive of a recession or a slowing economy.

There really isn't any dramatic news to come out post-Fed ? we're going to get into that earnings void, the next meeting for the Fed isn't until late June, so I think the story is how well the pullback in this market will be contained.

All eyes will be turned to the Fed. The market will be driven in and around the Fed meeting ? it could be a sell on the story because 50 basis points (a half-percentage point) is already built into the market.