Edging lower after a two-day 61-point run-up, the Dow Jones average lost six points yesterday and closed at 3,195.48. Investors continued to worry about possibly higher interest rates and lower corporate earnings.
AFTER THE DEBATES: "Bush didn't do what he was supposed to do in the debate, yet the market was up, which tells you that a Clinton victory is already packed into the market." (David Shulman, chief strategist, Salomon Bros.) . . . "The most difficult thing for investors to deal with is uncertainty, including Ross Perot's re-entry into the presidential race." (Robert Andres, Martindale Andres & Co.) . . . "Although the market has gone a long way in anticipating a Clinton victory, it still doesn't know what his fiscal programs will be." (Alfred Goldman, research director, A. G. Edwards & Sons.)
RUSHING THINGS? "Here are some stocks that investment professionals are talking up as Gov. Bill Clinton continues to lead in the presidential polls: H. & R. Block, Caterpillar, Ingersoll-Rand, New Jersey Steel, John Nuveen, Paramount Communications, Paychex and United Healthcare." (Wall Street Journal.)
MORE VIEWS: "If we are, as I truly believe, at a major turning point with a multiyear rise in interest rates ahead, then we are staring into the
maw of a major bear market." (Contrarian's View) . . . "As long as the tape holds up and interest rates behave, the market can be expected to continue up, though 'caveat emptor' (let the buyer beware) applies." (Ned Davis Strategy) . . . "The next breakout will be bullish." (Devoe Report) . . . "Stocks are in the vicinity of a major high." (Growth Fund Guide) . . . "The rout on Monday morning, Oct. 5, on virtually no news indicates how fragile the bullish compulsion is despite huge cash hoards." (Mabon Securities) . . . "Exit all stocks and mutual funds now!" (Switch Fund Timing.)
BALTIMORE BEAT: Tomorrow night, locally produced "Wall Street Week With Louis Rukeyser" looks at the market's technical side with guest Alan Shaw, managing director at Smith Barney, and panelists Mary Farrell, William Gross and Marty Zweig. . . . T. Rowe Price's International Stock Fund is listed under "The Best Mutual Funds" in Fortune's 1993 Investor's Guide. . . . Legg Mason's 24-page Mid-Atlantic Review, including comments on Black & Decker, Giant Food, Hechinger and Washington REIT, is yours by phoning Gerald Scheinker at 486-8010. . . . "Baltimorean Frank Cappiello of 'Wall Street Week' fame is the manager of three new mutual funds that he sponsors with the Rushmore group: Cappiello-Rushmore Utility Income, Growth, and Emerging Growth." (Mutual Fund Forecaster.)
MID-MONTH MEMOS: Warning: Some people are low enough to insert their own magnetic-ink, computer-coded deposit slips in a bank's tray of blank deposit slips, so you might unwittingly make zTC a deposit to somebody else's account. . . . Job Hint: When looking for a job, include more, rather than less, data in your resume. Some firms might create a job for you if they like your credentials. . . . When buying bonds, buy taxable bonds if you're in the 15 percent tax bracket, but buy tax-free municipals if you're in a higher bracket. . . . Autumn tips for salesmen and women: Invite some of your best and most loyal clients to play golf this autumn; courses aren't as crowded as in summer, and guests will appreciate your late-season hospitality.
COLUMN-ENDERS: Looking back, what happened to carbon paper, municipal bond "basis" books, slide rules, typewriters, ticker tape, brokerage house board rooms? . . . "We think it is much too soon to give up on the business recovery, even if we have been wrong about its rate of growth to date." (Investment Counselors of Maryland, Oct. 5) . . . Mark Twain said, "October is one of the particularly dangerous months in which to speculate in stocks. Others are November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September." . . . Speaking of October, the 508-point crash happened five years ago next Monday (Oct. 19, 1987), taking the Dow Jones average down to 1,738.34. . . . If you have money in a savings account at, say, 3 or 4 percent, seriously consider paying off or paying down your 8 or 9 percent (or higher) mortgage. Don't let the tax deduction stand in your way. . . . An old menu shows that in 1967, a local Howard Johnson's charged 20 cents for a cup of coffee. Today, it's 70 cents. . . . Read the cover story, "Recession Watch: Marriage, Families and the Nasty '90's" in U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 19.