By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Can you believe we're heading into the fourth quarter of the year? Here's a reality check: the Neiman-Marcus holiday catalogue will arrive before Halloween. So how did the market fare in the third quarter? I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
September, historically, has been the worst month of the year for the markets. Too soon to say if it'll hold true, although it did lose ground. It could have been worse if yesterday wasn't the last day of the month. It was headed south and stayed there after a disappointing forecast by Sun Microsystems and a consumer confidence number that proved we were a lot less confident than expected. That number makes me nuts anyway. Today's a new day. And the manufacturing sector, the abandoned child of the economy, grew for a third straight month in September but at a much slower pace than anticipated. But see, that was anticipated, so the market rallied today.
Even local Exxon Mobil's stock is up despite news related to residual costs from the '89 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Alaska is still feeling the damages and according to government documents, Exxon may have to pay $100 million for continued restoration. I guess investors feel Exxon can afford it. But can Alaska? That's another commentary.
So after all is said and done, Wall Street is jubilant. We've chalked up two positive quarters in a row. The last time we reported that stat was early 2000. With all the major indices up this year, 2003 is on its way to be the first up year after three free-falling years. But some analysts are still walking around the board rooms, mumbling the word they're so accustomed to mumbling - "uncertainty." Will corporate earning be up as expected? Will the consumer spend at the holidays? Are low interests enough to keep the economy going? What if the dollar continues to fall against the yen and euro? Legitimate concerns, but as long as the market is up no one is rushing to answer these questions.
I say, let's just get through October. Infamous for stock market crashes including 1920 and 1987, yet many a bottom have made been in the market counting the one last year. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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