Earnings results from Johnson & Johnson, DuPont and Travelers on Tuesday seemed sanguine. How will traders run with the data? Art Cashin, director of floor operations for UBS Financial Services, offered CNBC his stock-market insights.
"Some of the earnings improvement is already baked in the cake," Cashin said.
"I think people were expecting some improvement; nobody had really cautioned or warned."
"Plus, the market's still a little stunned and shaky after the last three days of last week," when U.S. stocks had their worst week since March.
The market is "still trying to figure out where it wants to go, so the risk appetite is not very big," Cashin said.
What of yesterday's upward move? Cashin scoffed at the idea that it was driven by internal market fundamentals — and thus a sustainable trend.
"That was the 'Bernanke Bounce,'" Cashin maintained, referring to signs that Ben Bernanke may return as Federal Reserve chairman.
"Friday, one of the worries was the chorus of senators saying, 'I'm not going to go with this guy.' A break in continuity. To paraphrase Lincoln, changing horses mid-crisis."
- AIG: Cashin critiques comments by Sen. Jim Bunning on the bailout. Watch the video for more.
- Subpoena the Fed? Watch Sen. Bunning's CNBC Interview
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CNBC Slideshows:
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CNBC Data Pages:
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CNBC's Companies in the News:
Johnson & Johnson
DuPont
Travelers
AIG
Berkshire Hathaway
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Disclosures:
Disclosure information was not available for Cashin or his company.