16 Quotes by Russ Koesterich

We're just winding down the year, ending the year with these sort of small, middling gains, which to me makes sense because you've had opposing factors this year. On the one hand you've had good earnings and a robust economy, but on the other hand, you've been fighting the Fed. The two canceled each other out.

There are still some significant headwinds out there, but I have to say, the market has held up pretty well. But ... we're still stuck in the same trading range we've seen for months, and it'll take better news to break out of it.

I think, overall, we're seeing some friendly economic data that helped the market out. That said, there's not a lot of catalysts out there that could take us much higher, unless oil drops $5 a barrel or the Fed comes out with amazingly clear language in its take on the economy, and neither of those are likely.

You have to ask yourself, if you sever the profitable part of a company from the part of the company that's less profitable, what do you have left? To me, this is an area that still has to develop, and I don't necessarily know if I would go forward with that.

The PPI number is one data point that suggests the Fed is going to go further.

Core inflation (excluding volatile energy and food prices) has stayed relatively contained.

Earnings are the most likely catalyst in the short term. The market is very concerned about inflation and the consumer rolling over because of higher prices. If the outlooks call for strong fourth-quarter sales, then you could see something good happen.

The selling you're seeing is nearly all on the tech side, and you're seeing resilience in other parts of the market. This tells me that people aren't panicking over Japan or anything else.

People are waiting to see what kind of change in policy language is going to accompany that statement. The question is, if the Fed is approaching (a neutral stance), how will its policy change in 2006?