“If the retail sales number is a little lighter than forecast, that may be seen as bullish for stocks in that it takes the edge off the inflation issue,”
“First of all, (AOL) stock is down ... 50, 60 percent from its high, ... And it really hasn't changed its spots. I mean my grandchildren, if I'm lucky enough to have grandchildren, and their grandchildren are still going to know about Bugs Bunny and Time magazine. AOL is here for the count. (The stock) could end up earning a buck a share next year, maybe even a little bit more than that, 15-to-18 percent growth. Where do you get that kind of quality at that kind of price? (That's) very, very difficult to find.”
“Goldman Sachs ... yesterday took it off their recommended list for reasons that made no sense whatsoever. This is as high a quality company as you can imagine. They did make some round-trip energy trades, there's no doubt, [but] they amounted to one quarter of one percent of their business. It had no effect on their profits. Energy trading is about 65 cents or about 30 percent of Duke's earnings. I would just buy Duke with my eyes closed at this point.”
“The economy is on good footing, the earnings in the first quarter are expected to be better, but I can't see anything that's going to have a big impact on the market in the short term other than the price of oil.”