The first half of the year was impacted by pessimism about oil prices and the threat of a soft patch, ... But I think there's been a change in terms of expectations. I look for the S&P 500 to gravitate higher through the rest of the year.

If oil hit $100, it would have quite a debilitating effect. The economy would slow to a crawl. We'd have a return to stagflation, that cliché from the 1970's. We'd see a huge cutback in driving. The sacrifices would be severe. It would be another blow to the airlines and the whole transportation sector.

If oil hit $100, it would have quite a debilitating effect, ... The economy would slow to a crawl. We'd have a return to stagflation, that cliché from the 1970's. We'd see a huge cutback in driving. The sacrifices would be severe. It would be another blow to the airlines and the whole transportation sector.

Intel gave us a good preview of the quarter, but oil suffocated the positive news.

The soft patch was highly overrated,

The underlying fundamentals remain decent, but the pessimism is getting higher. The biggest hindrance right now is oil prices, part and parcel with Iraq.