Joseph Battipaglia Good Quotations

Going into this week, there were a lot of expectations that the tech stocks would deliver good numbers. As those numbers come out it's not surprising that there would be some profit taking. It's a temporary phenomenon.

I think the good news is that the current quarter is OK, and the challenge is going to be what comes next,

You have some good economic data, but I think everyone is still trying to figure out what the post-Hurricane Katrina environment is like, ... For now, the fundamentals look strong, but that could change in the next few months as the distortions caused by Katrina come through in the economic data, and that's what has people holding off.

The government contributed to that strength by spending more. Retail stocks had a good first quarter because with the strong economy, consumers had flexible spending power. The retail sector still has the power to outperform for the rest of the year.

I like the retail group as a whole because now Wall Street has soured on these companies, ... They're worried about the consumer vitality. But don't forget we have an election coming up in November. That actually stirs confidence, interestingly enough. This could be another good Christmas season. Also this summer, we may not see a drought for most of the country, which means people's spending on home and hearth might be a little better than it was last year when it was so tough outside.

It's a good start to the quarter, ... We're at the lower end of the recent trading range, so there's probably more room to gain.

I don't think there's a huge upside in the major indexes after the run we've seen. But there are still good opportunities out there and through the first quarter, it just won't be quite as easy as a year ago.