Take on the ticker

Alexander Paris Sr. of Barrington Hills is president of Barrington Asset Management, Chicago

What moved markets last week?

"It was an extremely huge week in terms of news and a lot that the investor had to absorb. It had a very heavy economics calendar. And of course, there was the highlight of the Fed coming out with a very aggressive 50 point rate cut, on top of the 75 basis points cut within the same week, just about. Then you had a very heavy earnings calendar, with 120 of the S&P 500 companies reporting."

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How did the market react to the Fed interest rate cuts?

"They were rallying anticipating the Fed move. Of course, when the Fed did announce, it sold off. Which is not uncommon; it is sort of the old 'Buy on the rumor, sell on the news' kind of thing. Then the rest of the week they had to look at the economic news. I was a little concerned that with the Fed out of the way and the bad economic news, the market would reel again. But the market has been surprisingly strong."

What did you think of the jobs report?

"The job report came out on Friday and it was really a big negative surprise, a 17,000-job decline in payrolls when people were looking for something from a 50,000 to 100,000 increase, and it is a bit surprising the market didn't sell-off more #8230; It really seems to be looking past the economic news."

Are small caps, with under $2 billion in capitalization, more vulnerable to recession?

"With small cap stocks it is generally a stock picking environment. Much more companies are in the small cap area. They've already been hit pretty hard. The Russell Micro Cap index, last I looked, was down 26 percent from the peak. So they've already been hit pretty hard. And small caps under-performed the overall market in 2007 #8230; But you don't want to over generalize."

Are there any positives in the markets?

"One of the positives, in the stock market #8230; are those companies that have international business. Because the rest of the world is growing faster, at least right now, than the U.S. And the weak dollar makes U.S. goods more competitive overseas. Now that would make large caps more competitive than small caps."

What might move markets this week?

"It will be another sizable week for corporate earnings. For the fourth quarter the estimates were calling for a 20 percent decline, but the estimates for the first quarter was positive although they are falling and I think estimates are being cut as companies report. That can have an effect on the stock market #8230; The economic news won't look particularly good #8230; It'll be a good test for the market to see if it can withstand more bad economic news."