Ram Kolluri Market Quotations

We're looking at the headline news, but the market is being supported by the girders of the economy, a basic, strong foundation, ... I don't expect a dramatic rally from here, but we are very much on track for a high-single-digit, low-double-digit total return for the year.

Short-term, the market is looking for an excuse to sell off. Year-to-date, you've got the Nasdaq up almost 46 percent, the Dow up nearly 20 percent, the S&P 500 up 22 percent, and there's a bit of a 'take the money and run' sentiment.

We're off to the races, and the market seems to be saying that we're going to see an economic recovery. I'm in the camp that we're beginning to see early indications of an economic recovery.

We are experiencing these extreme levels of fear, with investors saying that they are not interested in hearing any positives, like the retail sales this morning, and that they want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The silver lining is that this kind of panic is historically the classic feeling when a bear market is at its bottom.

Really, in the market today, the most significant mover is the earnings. If earnings do well, the market will do well, if not, then the market won't.

We've been given this embarrassment of riches where the market seems to want to go up every day, regardless of the news.

It's not the end of the run. The market needs a breather, and that's what the selling is about.

It's like (Dickens') 'A Tale of Two Cities,' 'it was the best of times, it was the worst of times,' ... If you get away from the stock noise, the economy is recovering, manufacturing is picking up, you've got the services report this morning. But the market just wants to ignore this information.

I don't really see anything substantial that could derail this market right now.

I do think this is a lull in the market rather than a new bear trend. One month does not a trend make.

The market has been happy with the first-quarter results, but why? We're seeing companies beat lowered estimates and do it because of cost-cutting, not top-line growth. Unless the earnings start to improve, the economy picks up, this market is going to continue to be too richly valued.