Jack Ablin Quotations

We're still getting more negatives on the economic front today, and this is a period where we're really looking for economic growth to avoid a Fed rate cut.

Fundamentally, I think the stock market is fairly valued, but there are a lot of issues around that are causing investor concern.

I don't view the market as risky or dangerous even in spite of more Fed tightening. We have enough value in U.S. and international growth stocks. What's holding stocks back right now is uncertainty about interest rates, not valuation.

Gold is creating a psychological dark cloud over the market. With gold on the upside and inflation fears, the numbers we get tomorrow will clarify some of these concerns.

Over the last four years the Fed has played the part of a surrealistic painter, creating a dreamy backdrop with generously low interest rates.

Maybe now there's enough fear out there to form a base to rally again.

I would infer from the statement that the Fed is somewhat more sanguine on the economic recovery. Perhaps they believe that $55 oil prices are, at least for the time being, something of the past and that jobs are just improving at a moderate pace.

I would not expect investors and traders to make any big bets ahead of the number tomorrow. It clues us in on growth in the economy but also inflation.

We're certainly on solid footing on an economic front.

We have some very ugly numbers. You can argue that the ISM is still backward looking, and maybe even the jobless claims, but eventually we're going to need some evidence that the economy is improving. We had a lot of enthusiasm coming from earnings, but the news today is a little bit of a slap in the face that we're not out of the woods yet.

We can't believe any trend right now, until the issues tied to this conflict are resolved. Unfortunately, in this kind of market there's going to be no clear direction. We're going to be in this holding pattern for the next few weeks, at least.

Traders found some weakness in the factory orders in the ISM report after digging around.

There has been this continual debate as to whether higher oil prices are inflationary or a restraint on growth. This year, the bond market has signaled that it is inflationary.

We're no longer in a buy-and-hold environment. You have to be much more active in sector allocation. That's where the future of this business is going.

We've come off a phenomenal July. And we've seen a real reversal in the stocks that were leading the market, with economically-sensitive names doing well.

The projected job growth number would mark a pretty strong snapback from the previous month.

When you have strong growth and low wages, the chief beneficiary is corporate America.

But the key here is really going to be guidance. Everyone is looking for signs of the rolling over of profit growth, although not as much as the Fed or higher energy prices might indicate.

What I worry about is that if the Fed continues to tighten, they could commit the same error they have done every time since 1980 and cause a financial crisis.

You have to look at all the options you have available, from A to Z.

With light volume, we're going to bounce around like a ping-pong ball. I wouldn't take any moves this week as a clear indication of anything.

Between leading indicators and subdued inflation expectations, it's really set a nice backdrop for the market today,

Confidence is slipping, manufacturing is slowing, and even with today's jobs report, the employment trend is still negative. The bet here is that the Federal Reserve will have to stop raising rates in order to keep the economy from sliding further.

Earnings are still the engine and the market is not overvalued, but the environment we are in is creating pressure.

There's really not a lot of information here to work with, and I think the market's taking a rest.

The world assumes the Fed will raise the rates by a quarter percentage point, that's a non-event. It's what the statement lays out about the pace of future rate hikes that will be important, because that's what people are thinking about. I think the inflation reports will also be pivotal next week.

The tick up in oil prices hurts, but history has shown that interest rates have a much bigger impact on the stock market than oil. And looking at the ISM services number, you're seeing the kind of gradual, lazy improvement in the economy that's not going to really get rates going.

Right now, we have this positive confluence of earnings and economic news that has been propelling the market.

Right now, the transparency we had with (former Chairman Alan) Greenspan is gone. We're trying to get some semblance of which way the Fed is going to go.

Raising rates by more than 25 basis points would shock the market so much that the Fed's credibility would vanish.

People are taking some comfort in results and a feeling that the economy is getting better, but there's still some caution. We need to see more evidence of a sustainable recovery. We need companies to start seeing profits more through top-line growth than just cost-cutting measures.

After looking at the employment numbers, there is no doubt in my mind that the measured language remains. Knowing what we know now, there's no pause in 2005.

Any number Wal-Mart gives is tantamount to an economic indicator,

You needed to be a meteorologist to make money in this market.

This deal makes sense for both companies. Bank of New York has been expanding in the custodial business and doing a fine job. This shift out of distribution is an ideal fit for J.P. Morgan.

This lends some comfort to the situation. In spite of slight economic weakness, the Fed sees no need to change its strategy. It's also not going to shut down the economy too quickly.

They're going to get a deal done, but they may end up paying a premium. These firms are finding an increasing portion of their bottom line attributed to trading and asset management.

Accounting concerns continue to dominate the market. We're going to be seeing this 'Prove it to me' investing for a while.

It seems like the market is obsessing on this bond market fallout, which was somewhat precipitated by the move to raise (interest rates) in Japan. A lot of the fuel that has been used to invest in this bond market has been derived from 'easy money' in Japan.

It seems like the market is obsessing on this bond market fallout.

Economists are expecting a gradual slowdown in economic growth paired with a slowdown in inflation. That will allow the Federal Reserve to wind up its rate-hiking campaign.

The bond market is still behind the inflation curve. The inflation story continues to chip away at our economy and it doesn't seem to be getting any weaker.

It's increasingly believed among participants that the Fed will skip the next meeting, and possibly one more by the end of the year.

Any bad news can throw us, and the jobs report was perceived as bad news, seen as a sign that the recovery is fragile, but that's not necessarily true. In the last two recessions, a pickup in employment only happened a year after the recession had ended. So just because unemployment is higher doesn't mean we're not on track for a recovery.

I'm not convinced we're heading into a recession. But we will have a slow down.

In both fees and commissions, they're in good shape.

Intel signaled that earnings growth is slowing, but we expected that. The real question is how much it's going to slow, what companies are going to get hit, which one's aren't. We'll know more when more earnings reports come in.

Intel signaled that earnings growth is slowing, but we expected that, ... The real question is how much it's going to slow, what companies are going to get hit, which one's aren't. We'll know more when more earnings reports come in.

Investors have their rally caps on for year end, and we're doing it with speculation. With a good inflation report and strong growth, it seems to be the perfect elixir for Wall Street.

Investors are taking stock of earnings and questioning whether they should be as optimistic as they are.

Investing in a mutual fund is like riding in a bus; your progress depends in large part on other people and what they're doing. An exchange-traded fund is closer to riding in your own car.

If there is anything more than 250,000 jobs then everything reverses and all bets about a pause at 3.25 percent are off,

Generally, Wal-Mart can give real-time data faster than the government, because they can just pull this off their cash registers.

I don't see any last-day-of-the-year rebound. I think it will be more of the same tomorrow.

For the fee-based deal business, it's still a favorable environment. But they also have a huge consumer credit exposure.

The housing news was the big setback today. While we suspect that housing is likely to slow and thereby take the primary catalyst away from consumer spending, the number came in worse than expected and forced investors to face reality much sooner.

The GDP upgrade could put more pressure on the Fed. At the same time, we're losing ground with the consumer... From the perspective of today's market, it's a one-two punch.

The confidence report really personifies what's going on in consumers' minds right now. Investors are looking at Katrina and Rita as a one-two punch for the economy.

All of those things conspired to create a difficult environment for stocks.

The market is starting to shift back to quality stocks.