FWIW (before heading back home after a looong day)
With a decidedly opposing view comes John Manley, equity
strategist at Salomon Smith Barney, who sees enough
reasons for optimism that he forecasts a Dow in the mid- to
high 9000s within six months. "What I find most important is
that tech is acting well," he said. "And I said that Wednesday
morning. Analysts are telling me orders are going up,
inventories are down, demand is up. That tells me that the
most exposed part of the economy to Asia is getting better. I
read in the paper that the Japanese just announced a pretty
decent tax cut, my analysts tell me tech's getting better, and
the market's going down because Asia's coming apart?"
Manley said he's content to occupy the lonely space on Wall
Street reserved for market mavens who didn't see the recent
index plunges as overdue and much-needed. "You know how
when you were a kid and you'd get into an argument with your
mother, and she'd say, 'Yeah, John, you're right and the rest
of the world is wrong'?" said the strategist. "I don't think it
should have gone down, and I think I'm right and the rest of the
world is wrong."
thestreet.com |
