Philip Orlando Quotations

Companies have been reporting good earnings, but the guidance has been muted.

On balance, this is a very strong set of data. Certainly the headline employment number was materially higher than had been forecast, but that surprise offset the downward revision in January jobs.

Geopolitics ought to be something in the forefront of everyone's minds. The developments in Iran and the sort of related energy issues with Iraq, Venezuela and Nigeria are all areas that need to be paid attention to very closely, with the tone of current events impacting the crude market, which is likely to impact both fixed-income and equity markets.

The market is hypersensitive to any clues that they can get as to what the Fed will do over the course of tightening cycle. The market is very focused on these data points.