Joseph Battipaglia Next Quotations

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.

We continue to be in this trading range, at the lower end right now, ... The only catalysts that can get us out of here in the next few weeks is some relief at the pump, lower oil prices and news about how much the Fed is going to raise rates.

The positive tone has more to do with the economic data that showed some signs of life in the economy. We've got through the Enron debacle and some selling that represented investors looking to lock in profits earlier on. Now we're starting to get a serious picture of what next year looks like, and it's probably the first serious step toward an upward move in the market.

Investors are not put off now by the onslaught of disappointing earnings expectations. I think we're well through the inflection point where the market will continue to recover, even though earnings estimates will continue to be cut for the next several months.

The market anticipated a very weak third quarter. There was concern this would roll over into an on-going problem. Once we have evidence that it is not and the third quarter comes in a little better than expected, that will be the basis for the next leg up,