Hans Olsen Quotations

This really is an impressively durable market, but there's so much more to come later in the week. Ask me later in the week, and we'll see where we stand then.

The only good spot today was factory orders.

Right now, it's like an absence of bad news is being treated as good news. I see it as just a lot of noise right now. There's still a lot out there to deal with.

Right now, it's like an absence of bad news is being treated as good news.

My sense is that the high oil prices we've sustained throughout this year are beginning to take hold in the operating costs of a wider swath of US companies.

We may be getting very close to the end of this rate-increase cycle and it may be also time for the Fed to make that clear. Stocks will benefit from that.

Some investors worry that if the inversion persists, it may signal a tough time ahead for the economy. But it's still too soon to know it for sure.

Look for it in the earnings of discount retailers, restaurants and travel sectors. Start to look for GDP to be impacted, earnings in the third and fourth quarters, especially now because we're starting to approach the home heating season. This is not good. We haven't seen anything like this in the better part of 25 years, where you start to have people thinking about gas lines.

It doesn't set a real positive stage. It makes it difficult for stock prices to go anywhere.

It all leads to the idea that inflation isn't so bad. That supplies some push for the market.

Most companies have already reported their earnings, and I think we're getting to a quiet period where it can be tough to keep anything positive going. There's still a lot out there to deal with.

We finally got that monkey off our back.

Those are kind of defensive stocks, with fairly inelastic demand. In good times and bad, you're going to use those types of products.

To say that we knew she was going to improve and excel at the rate that she is, that would not be a true statement. She has exceeded the schedule that I thought. She is probably already at the point where I thought she would be in two years.

We are starting to see the bite from some of the risks that have been lurking in the background, like oil. I think it's going to continue to be tougher for this market to do anything positive.

What's going to drive things over the next several weeks is how third-quarter earnings come out,

That pass was a duck. If anybody would have had a shotgun in the area, it would have been shot. In practice (Bryant) throws bullets. He looks like Brett Favre, but then in the game ...

That shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, because all the background was in place for that to happen what with rising interest rates and consumer spending where it's at, ... We may be seeing the beginning of a real slowdown in the housing market. That's a big concern.

This is expected to be one of the worse hurricane seasons, and so far they're right and we're only halfway through it. All you have to do is pose the question: What if you had another monster storm in another few weeks, just as things are starting to come back on line? I don't know how you would avoid recession in that environment.

The report is preliminary and it seems to be an outlier. Investors chose to focus on earnings reports.

It's obvious that the hurricanes will drag this number down, and because of that, separating the trend from the noise is going to be hard. When it's hard to assign a meaning to this number, the market will likely just overlook it.

It's remarkable that consumer confidence remains so high and it may help bring to stocks some buying momentum. Companies in the industrial and consumer sectors are the most likely to benefit from high confidence levels at the start of 2006.

The big guys, they won't touch that with somebody's else 10-foot pole, let alone their own.

It's clearly not good, but the market is probably more focused on the economic front.

It's interesting to note the diversity of the companies that are reporting these profit shortfalls. And we're still early into this.

These numbers combined with yesterday's ... gives the Fed a lot of ammunition to raise interest rates and if you have, at the same time, the economy slowing, that's just going to make a really difficult environment for stocks.

It's really the Fed at this point that's kept the market in check. The historic conversation between the Fed and the markets has become a bit of an argument over whether there's really inflation, and whether we need those rate hikes.

It's really the Fed at this point that's kept the market in check.

If the number is 50,000 above or below, that's a variation where you'll see a reaction. If it's below, then people will right away start talking about what the revision will be next month.

If you can use basic common sense, you're OK. But when you're a college kid, dying to play in the NFL, and now you have scouts from the Giants, the Seahawks, the Cowboys all waiting on you, and you're trying to figure out how many 25-cent eggs Sally needs to sell to make $15, you're afraid you're going to look stupid.

If you can use basic common sense, you're OK. But, when you're a college kid, dying to play in the NFL, and now you have scouts from the Giants, the Seahawks, the Cowboys all waiting on you, and you're trying to figure out how many 25-cent eggs Sally needs to sell to make $ 15, you're afraid you're going to look stupid.

If you believe that higher interest rates will put a brake on the economy, the whole tech sector is highly susceptible because companies are going to be spending on tech-related items depending on where the economy is going.

In reality, it won't matter as much because other elements like spending and consumer sentiment look good and that will keep the upward pressure on interest rates.

Because Amex is so diversified in interacting with the consumer, if they're trying to talk down their earnings expectations, the implication is, 'What does that mean for what's going on in the economy?'

A good number will confirm the upward bias for interest rates and higher rates are a headwind for equity prices.

The economy had been incredibly resilient in the face of lots of potential threats. Those threats have started to take hold in slower growth and corporate earnings, and I think it could get worse yet in the fourth quarter.

The chances of him being successful with that are slim to none, and slim just left town.

The market is clearly responding to the drop in consumer confidence. It's hard to be terribly optimistic when it cost you $60 to fill up the car.