The U.S. (market) is still stuck in a rut. We are calling the Dow up on the day, but so far every rally in the pre-market this week has been met with selling once the regular trading session got under way.

Stocks in general have been trading near their highs but volume has been a real obstacle to move prices higher. It may still be early but it looks to me as if we will see an attempt to take Dow above 9,450.

We could see a little bit of a relief bounce if the (economic) numbers are good. Also, today and Monday are the last days of the month, so it wouldn't surprise me if some funds throw a little bit of money at the market to boost some key names ahead of the 31st of October.

It is a 100 percent certainty according to the U.S. interest rate bonds that Mr. Greenspan will cut rates by 25 basis points.

The market is looking at a really strong open as Rita didn't blow as hard.

The equity market is still undecided about the overall trend of stocks. All in all the earnings so far have not been well received by investors and it looks as if stocks have to come down in price to attract investors.

Valuations are very high for the current economic climate or indeed even a prosperous climate. So it looks like what we are dealing with here is a bear market rally.

There is no doubt that the recent rally is fueled by a lot of short covering from bears thinking the New Orleans debacle would cause jitters on Wall Street.

The Dow needs to gain pace above 10,500 to stand a chance of attracting fresh speculative money. Our clients have made a significant shift and are far more interested in trading UK and European stocks rather than chasing non-performing stocks.