Michael Sheldon Oil Quotations

The primary reasons behind the back-to-back triple digit losses for the Dow are fears of a U.S. policy of protectionism against China and rising oil prices.

Right now, I think the market needs a catalyst in order to get out of this difficult environment. Hopefully if oil prices continue to decline and move back into the mid $50s, that could turn sentiment more positive on Wall Street.

Just under 30 percent of the S&P 500 report results this week. Among the different industry groups, we'll get a heavy dose of economically sensitive names, including several from the oil and gas, rail, coal and steel industries.

Looking into the second quarter, what could move us higher is a decline in oil prices, lower bond yields, solid economic data that is non inflationary and stronger growth on the earnings front.

The optimist would say we're in the early stage of a broad rally, the pessimist would say this is a dead-cat bounce and markets are going to head lower as oil heads toward $50 a barrel.

As the day progresses, oil prices have started to dominate trading and lead to weakness in the market.

Oil prices in the morning would've been the biggest story, but by the close the market's incredible resilience is what investors are left with, ... It's a contrast to how the markets ended yesterday. I think so far higher oil prices have not had a major impact. There are a lot of positives driving the consumer and the stock market.

Despite terrorist events around the world, rising oil prices and a lukewarm job market, consumer spending has remained fairly strong, much better than many would have thought. But if the economic data starts to slow and oil rises above $60 a barrel, that could eat into consumer spending.

There's a major rise in oil prices, increased investor worry about the upcoming earnings season and you're also seeing some profit-taking after the market's six-week run-up.

Stock prices moved lower for most of the day, but closed off their lows after oil prices retreated. All in all, there was a lot of hesitation before the earnings by the two tech bellwethers.

A further rise in oil prices and a retreat in Treasury yields could also create more headwinds for the market,

The markets are rebounding a little after several sessions of weakness that stemmed from rising oil prices, rising fears of terrorism and a sharp decline in the dollar. Those issues have somewhat abated today, but they are issues the market will continue to face over the next few weeks. As a result, you could see more profit taking.