Whenever big news like yesterday's crossing of the 14,000 mark of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and today's subsequent 100 point decline hits, journalists and pundits always try to prove that they aren't surprised by what's going on.
In fact, Eric Teal, chief investment officer of First Citizens BancShares Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina, told Bloomberg News: "A market pullback would not be surprising at all to us.'' Teal isn't alone. Spencer Clarke's Chief Market Strategist Michael Sheldon told Reuters that he also wasn't surprised, arguing, "It's certainly to be expected to have some profit taking given some of the earnings reports we had this morning and given the fact Dow closed at an all-time high on yesterday."
No one on Wall Street is ever surprised by anything, except for individual investors who buy and sell stocks. They are surprised all of the time.
To be fair, Teal and Sheldon are trying to feed the media's insatiable lust for pithy quotes on topics ilke the stock market, where there often are no clear cut reasons for why something happened.
Pundits, many of whom relish the spotlight, want to be helpful to the press but at the same time don't want to say anything that might get them in trouble with their bosses. Reporters, too, are under presure to make sense of the sometimes perplexing moves of the market.
The end result is that no one winds up saying much of anything.
Here are some recent examples.
The New York Times yesterday reported that, "Richard Bernstein, chief United States strategist for Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) , said he believes investors would be increasingly risk averse, especially if interest rates rise further." Stop the presses. Since when are investors worried about high interest rates?
Oaktree Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Robert Pavilik spoke to the Wall Street Journal of a "wall of worry" about crossing the 14,000 mark and said he expected to see some pullback over the next few days. He then took a more positive note: "Hopefully we'll get past that and it will be in our rearview mirror, but I think there are too many short-term concerns, and it will depend on how the earning season goes."
Pavilik apparently is trying really hard to root for the market to make a comeback even though he isn't optimistic that will happen.
National CIty's Director of Research Nick Raich told the Associated Press the astonishing fact that investors are reacting to second quarter numbers, which aren't as good as the first. Fair enough, I suppose.
Maybe one day, I'll read a quote from a pundit who will stick his or her neck out and actually say something interesting. I'll let you know when that happens.
Will Rich Ross really have a positive impact on Disney's movie operations?
Consumers sick of recession, may spend extra on holidays
Corrections, seasonality and Santa Claus
