John Davidson Span Quotations

To get a real turnaround you need to have a turnaround in earnings. The jobless claims number today probably keeps (Fed Chairman Alan) Greenspan on task in terms of lowering rates.

I think I'm probably in the minority that thinks that Greenspan may raise rates on Tuesday. I think the real case is a fact that the labor market is really tight and commodity prices have really increased.

Greenspan talked very little about the current state of the economy and was really admonishing lawmakers, and he made it very clear that there will be no interest-rate cut announced after the meeting on Sept. 24. I think this may have disappointed some investors hoping for a rate cut or something more aggressive to help stocks.

I think we have continued volatility until we really see signs of growth in the economy slowing. When we see the economy slowing, I think that people will be more comfortable with the fact that maybe Greenspan is not going to have to continue to raise rates, then I think the market can move ahead.

I think Bush's comments are having an impact as there are a lot of questions about how and when and who should deal with Iraq. But in the short term, the jobless claims and the comments from Greenspan have a bigger impact.

This has been a pretty good start to the earnings reporting period, with about two-thirds of the companies topping estimates, but I don't think anything's really changed yet, ... Greenspan suggested that we may be on the verge of a growth period, which would be significant for earnings, because mostly what you're seeing now are companies showing improvements on cost-cutting, rather than real growth.