Stock Market Analyst, CNNfn

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNNfn ANCHOR, STREET SWEEP: It may be light trading, but that still means stocks are posting these kinds of gains. Stocks at the best levels in two months. Susan Green of IDI joins me from the New York Stock Exchange. Susan, maybe there`s not a lot happening to drive these prices higher. But still at the end of the day, we`re going to be recording the Dow above 10,000 -- almost at 10,280. Why the turn around in sentiment mere?

SUSAN GREEN, IDI: I`ve got to tell you something. There was a rumor that hit the floor probably about 45 minutes ago. Something that was not mentioned yet. So I had to say, but the rumor floating around was the fact that Bin Laden might have been caught.

ROMANS: Another Bin Laden capture rumor. I haven`t heard one of those in maybe a couple months.

GREEN: I think people were discussing the fact that how ironic that it would be that that announcement may actually come out the day that Bush accepts the nomination this evening. So that coupled with the fact there were no major incidents in New York. You have to take into account the fact that yesterday we had the pepper spray scare in Washington, which drove the market down about 75 or 80 points.

The Bin Laden news today or the possibility of it had us rally late into the day. We also have a three-day weekend coming up. We have the jobs numbers tomorrow. A lot of people not going to be around tomorrow. They`re trying to get done what they need to get done today. That sparking the interest in stocks at the end of the day. But keep your eye on obviously my pet peeve, which is the volume. It feels really great, but there`s not a lot going on.

ROMANS: We talk about a rumor moving the market. It can be true, or it can be false. Sometimes it doesn`t matter. Even if people start talking about something in a light market, that can drive things up. And as we know, those Bin Laden rumors have not panned out every time there`s been one for the past few years. But why not jobless claims? Why not the concern about Wal-Mart [Company: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; Ticker: WMT ; URL: http://www.wal-mart.com/], and another hurricane rumbling up the coast? Why isn`t that holding back the street?

GREEN: I think the reason being the fact that a lot of this is already priced in. If you look at the way tech stocks have acted recently, if you look at what happened today with retail stocks, if you look at all the numbers that are coming out economically, some of them good, some of them great, some of them a little disappointing. People wondering, are we seeing some sort of set back?

The bottom line is there`s no clear indicator that anything is really pulling back hard. If we keep going, all systems go into the election. We`re through the end of the summer. We`re into the third quarter. It is cyclically and seasonally a stronger time of year. People feel more comfortable putting money into the market. And that`s what we`re seeing. No big catalyst (ph), but a comfort level which drives money in, not out of the market.

ROMANS: A couple different of theories about how the political season affects stocks. Earlier this summer people were saying that it was so tight, Kerry and Bush were so tight that Wall Street doesn`t like uncertainty. That`s why stocks were weaker. Then people were saying, well, also Kerry was giving Bush a run for his money for a while, and Wall Street prefers a Republican. So that`s why stocks were weaker.

So as we get closer to the actual election, do you think we`ll get all of that posturing behind us, and people will start making investment decisions based on like investment fundamentals, and not politics?

GREEN: Absolutely. But I think the thing you have to watch out for is the fact that as we get closer to the election heating up, you`re also going to get a lot more information hitting the tape (ph). You`re going to see a lot of the bashing that goes on. A lot of the commercials, a lot of the finger pointing, which obviously happens in any election. And it is going to give us an emotional swing day-to-day.

But as we get closer to the actual election itself, you should see people finally feel comfortable with their decision, and making a decision based on the economy. And the market will react accordingly.

ROMANS: I know it`s quiet this week because the Republican National Convention. Next week is Labor Day. When do we get full engagement back in this market?

GREEN: I think once we get closer to preannouncement season again. So probably end of September. We have a couple weeks of doldrums coming up. But also keep your eye on Intel tonight. This will drive the market, and set the tone for tech stocks, which obviously move the Nasdaq, and will move the Dow overall if there`s nothing else going on.

ROMANS: Susan Green, IDI. Thanks Susan. Talk to you soon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 888-CNNFN-01 OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT WWW.FDCH.COM

END

[Copy: Content and programming copyright 2004 Cable News Network, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Prepared by FDCH e-Media, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House Inc., eMediaMillWorks, Inc.), No license is granted to the user of this material other than for research. User may not reproduce or redistribute the material except for user`s personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Cable News Network, Inc.`s copyright or other proprietary rights or interests in the material; provided, however, that members of the news media may redistribute limited portions (less than 250 words) of this material without a specific license from CNN so long as they provide conspicuous attribution to CNN as the originator and copyright holder of such material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.]

Stock Market Analyst, CNNfn

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNNfn ANCHOR, STREET SWEEP: It may be light trading, but that still means stocks are posting these kinds of gains. Stocks at the best levels in two months. Susan Green of IDI joins me from the New York Stock Exchange. Susan, maybe there`s not a lot happening to drive these prices higher. But still at the end of the day, we`re going to be recording the Dow above 10,000 -- almost at 10,280. Why the turn around in sentiment mere?

SUSAN GREEN, IDI: I`ve got to tell you something. There was a rumor that hit the floor probably about 45 minutes ago. Something that was not mentioned yet. So I had to say, but the rumor floating around was the fact that Bin Laden might have been caught.

ROMANS: Another Bin Laden capture rumor. I haven`t heard one of those in maybe a couple months.

GREEN: I think people were discussing the fact that how ironic that it would be that that announcement may actually come out the day that Bush accepts the nomination this evening. So that coupled with the fact there were no major incidents in New York. You have to take into account the fact that yesterday we had the pepper spray scare in Washington, which drove the market down about 75 or 80 points.

The Bin Laden news today or the possibility of it had us rally late into the day. We also have a three-day weekend coming up. We have the jobs numbers tomorrow. A lot of people not going to be around tomorrow. They`re trying to get done what they need to get done today. That sparking the interest in stocks at the end of the day. But keep your eye on obviously my pet peeve, which is the volume. It feels really great, but there`s not a lot going on.

ROMANS: We talk about a rumor moving the market. It can be true, or it can be false. Sometimes it doesn`t matter. Even if people start talking about something in a light market, that can drive things up. And as we know, those Bin Laden rumors have not panned out every time there`s been one for the past few years. But why not jobless claims? Why not the concern about Wal-Mart [Company: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; Ticker: WMT ; URL: http://www.wal-mart.com/], and another hurricane rumbling up the coast? Why isn`t that holding back the street?

GREEN: I think the reason being the fact that a lot of this is already priced in. If you look at the way tech stocks have acted recently, if you look at what happened today with retail stocks, if you look at all the numbers that are coming out economically, some of them good, some of them great, some of them a little disappointing. People wondering, are we seeing some sort of set back?

The bottom line is there`s no clear indicator that anything is really pulling back hard. If we keep going, all systems go into the election. We`re through the end of the summer. We`re into the third quarter. It is cyclically and seasonally a stronger time of year. People feel more comfortable putting money into the market. And that`s what we`re seeing. No big catalyst (ph), but a comfort level which drives money in, not out of the market.

ROMANS: A couple different of theories about how the political season affects stocks. Earlier this summer people were saying that it was so tight, Kerry and Bush were so tight that Wall Street doesn`t like uncertainty. That`s why stocks were weaker. Then people were saying, well, also Kerry was giving Bush a run for his money for a while, and Wall Street prefers a Republican. So that`s why stocks were weaker.

So as we get closer to the actual election, do you think we`ll get all of that posturing behind us, and people will start making investment decisions based on like investment fundamentals, and not politics?

GREEN: Absolutely. But I think the thing you have to watch out for is the fact that as we get closer to the election heating up, you`re also going to get a lot more information hitting the tape (ph). You`re going to see a lot of the bashing that goes on. A lot of the commercials, a lot of the finger pointing, which obviously happens in any election. And it is going to give us an emotional swing day-to-day.

But as we get closer to the actual election itself, you should see people finally feel comfortable with their decision, and making a decision based on the economy. And the market will react accordingly.

ROMANS: I know it`s quiet this week because the Republican National Convention. Next week is Labor Day. When do we get full engagement back in this market?

GREEN: I think once we get closer to preannouncement season again. So probably end of September. We have a couple weeks of doldrums coming up. But also keep your eye on Intel tonight. This will drive the market, and set the tone for tech stocks, which obviously move the Nasdaq, and will move the Dow overall if there`s nothing else going on.

ROMANS: Susan Green, IDI. Thanks Susan. Talk to you soon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 888-CNNFN-01 OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT WWW.FDCH.COM

END

[Copy: Content and programming copyright 2004 Cable News Network, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Prepared by FDCH e-Media, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House Inc., eMediaMillWorks, Inc.), No license is granted to the user of this material other than for research. User may not reproduce or redistribute the material except for user`s personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Cable News Network, Inc.`s copyright or other proprietary rights or interests in the material; provided, however, that members of the news media may redistribute limited portions (less than 250 words) of this material without a specific license from CNN so long as they provide conspicuous attribution to CNN as the originator and copyright holder of such material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.]