Take on the ticker

Janna Sampson of Lisle is a founding partner of OakBrook Investments, with $1.3 billion under management.What was this week like in the markets?"This week in the markets has been one of a reassessment of the risks of the American economy sinking into a recession. Generally, we have had a down week all week, with a little bit of volatility. That, along with the numbers coming out Friday morning showing employment much, much weaker than expected, with unemployment increasing 5 percent. Earlier in the week, we had some turmoil on the international front, which led to an energy price increase (to over $100 a barrel of oil)."In the wake of the Iowa caucuses, how might the elections affect markets?"The presidential elections in the U.S. are not likely to have any significant impacts on the markets until we get closer to November."What is your opinion on whether we are headed for a recession? "My opinion is that the whole year won't end in a recession. I think we are likely to have a quarter that could dip negative. Most economists are looking for a 1 percent growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2007, which is not a recession but certainly isn't a desirable growth rate. I think the first quarter of '08 is likely to have a negative growth number and so mark the start of a downturn. But unless we put a couple of quarters together that are negative, it won't officially be a recession #8230; We may see growth come back to a positive in the second quarter."Are stocks currently cheap or expensive?"Stocks are not cheap, right now. There are sectors that are cheap #8230; If you're really interested in taking a risk, financials and banking, in particularly, have dropped so far, we are seeing many value funds scooping up high-quality banks #8230; There are sectors that are fairly expensive. Technology has run fairly substantial (higher)."What might move markets this week?"This week ahead of us, we won't have a whole lot of economic news. In the middle of the week we will get mortgage applications #8230; Later in the week, we'll get some consumer credit numbers and I think we'll see those figures stay fairly high #8230; That's because consumers have to be pretty much tapped out on their ability to purchase. I think it will be difficult for the market to turn it around next week, and we may see some more negative returns in the stock market."