The main driver is one, no surprises out of Europe, we're getting indications of what's going in the first quarter, and I think people are a little more comfortable.

Irwin Michael

Categorized in : Company News

This is the flip side to last month when the market was unexpectedly disappointed with the 38,000 jobs.

Oil has improved a little bit here and the extreme negativity we had going back three or four months ago has waned a bit and even the Canadian dollar has improved.

We don't know what to expect at this point, although we do know that the deficit we've been forewarned should be C$25-30 billion, with a lot of it should be in infrastructure spending.

The market was becoming extremely oversold in the short run, investors were anxiously awaiting for some stability in the commodities, and oil and gas and the mining sector.

Right now people are taking maximum negativity and factoring that out into the marketplace, the path of least resistance is down.

People are breathing a sigh of relief and they are looking for those areas that should show a positive impact from what the Liberals were talking about.

My sense is the stock market will end the year higher than where it is today, right now, we're going through the indecision and the lack of clarity in terms of the Federal Reserve and China and what's happening in Europe.

Even though the markets are up ... a lot of investors are still s... by Irwin Michael

Even though the markets are up ... a lot of investors are still skeptical.

Yesterday there appeared a fair amount of capitulation. It appeared to be more retail-oriented than institutional from what we could see in terms of the volumes.

Yesterday probably indicates the Federal Reserve will probably postpone any interest rate increase for fear that it could precipitate another decline like yesterday.

We're making a bit of a comeback after yesterday's selloff, the volatility is still substantial. The oversupply issues in resources, particularly energy, need to be resolved.

The markets have been frenetic, i think all of us, all investors, are waiting for a little bit of serenity.

However, the real effect is on investor psychology, people get nervous. More likely than not they're selling their winners.

Clearly the biggest concerns out there include Greece. It's very psychological at this point. It's testing Europe, testing central bankers. People don't know what the effects will be.

A lot of people are waiting for (the Fed) - basically every syllable of their pronouncement and whatever their view is looking forward.

Stocks tend to firm up around Memorial Day weekend. by Irwin Michael

Stocks tend to firm up around Memorial Day weekend.

Generally, stocks tend to firm up around Memorial Day weekend - people covering their shorts, going flattish to maybe long a little bit here.

It's been a difficult week. The currencies, equities indices have been very volatile. So it's a bit of a sigh of relief. The path of least resistance is on the upside, there are a number of positive drivers. The Conservative majority victory in the UK ... On balance, nice recovery in the U.S. market. It gives people more confidence.

The main driver is one, no surprises out of Europe. by Irwin Michael

The main driver is one, no surprises out of Europe.

You need more confidence out there. The greater the confidence, the more investors are going to dip into the waters, we want to see a little more stability in the marketplace.