Michael Strauss Market Quotations

Oil shouldn't be trading above $65 a barrel. It constrains the whole market and only some energy utility shares benefit.

Investors are having to deal with the reality of lower corporate profits. And the stock market is starting to feel that impact.

The equity market is going to begin focusing more on corporate earnings and may even focus on the positive benefits of a little bit of economic activity.

The Chicago PMI helped, but the economy is doing better and we know the fourth-quarter will have some of the effect of the hurricane, but the market is ready to withstand that.

The market probably did a reasonably good job anticipating this pickup in inflation. Investors are relieved there wasn't more pressure on core inflation. Unfortunately, we're probably going to see that pressure in the upcoming months.

The market is preparing for a pretty good bounce in employment. What that means, though, is some more concern about inflation as demand increases.