Pat Fitzgibbons, Senior Markets Editor, Chats on AOL

OnlineHost: Live from New York, NY, please welcome Pat Fitzgibbons, senior editor, TheStreet.com. Pat can answer questions about the markets and investing. Pat does not offer individual stock commentaries or recommendations. Visit Keyword: TheStreet.

SageMoola: Good afternoon and welcome to MarketTalk, Mr. Fitzgibbons!

PFitzgibbo: Hi everyone, another crazy day in the markets!

Question: Do you expect the technology sector to post better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, and if so will this lift this beleaguered sector?

PFitzgibbo: Tech is kinda in a lousy mood these days. Earnings are looking better, but the overall tenor of the times (this week at least) seems to be towards selling.

Question: Are there any sectors that are a good play when interest rates are on the rise?

PFitzgibbo: Well, interest rates have been rising this year and sectors have been pretty up and down. Look for strength in some of the financial stocks, maybe precious metals and any other sectors that have been beaten up in this recent expansion.

Question: Hi Pat, what's your opinion on SUNW?

PFitzgibbo: It's in a tough sector, but it's a company that has performed pretty well. They seem to have a pretty good record of tech products and the chart on that stock has risen pretty consistently.

Question: Are tech stocks going to drop even further?

PFitzgibbo: Hmm. If I could answer that for sure I'd be very, very, very rich. It's kind of hard to tell where tech is going in the long run. There is a lot of volatility in the market right now and tech is sort of caught in the crossfire.

OnlineHost: We are speaking with Pat Fitzgibbons, markets editor, TheStreet.com. Pat can answer questions about the markets and investing. Pat does not offer individual stock commentaries or recommendations. Visit Keyword: TheStreet.

Question: Please comment on AOL.

PFitzgibbo: The Internet sector has had kind of a tough time and AOL has not been spared the market to AOL, though, is still a very strong company and has a good history of splitting and offering its stockholders some pretty solid value.

Question: When do you see this market turning around? Looks like the Dow wants to drift lower.

PFitzgibbo: The Dow has turned late today and is now off about 50 points, when will it turn? Well, there are a lot of economic data released at the end of this week. So maybe next week, or maybe we're entering a bear market.

Question: Do you think [Alan] Greenspan will raise interest rates even higher this year?

PFitzgibbo: It looks like there is at least one more interest-rate hike priced into the market. But, if the market continues to slump, we could see the Fed stay on the sidelines.

Question: What sector is in favor?

PFitzgibbo: Today, the paper and forest products sector is doing quite well, as are the tobacco and banking indices.

Question: Some of the biotechs like ENMD seem to be on the verge of major breakthroughs yet they are getting beaten up. Any reason for this situation?

PFitzgibbo: Biotech companies, in general, have had a great run-up this year. It is very important, when looking at this sector, to check how the companies are doing with their patents and their pipeline of products.

Question: What if it's too late to sell, I mean if you're already losing money, but you want to be in for the rally whenever that may happen?

PFitzgibbo: You have to ask yourself, all investors have to do this: How much do I need the money that I've got invested? In this market, if you can't be in it for the long haul, it might be worth your while to review why you are investing and what you hope to accomplish.

Question: I don't believe you said "precious metals." Am I supposed to panic?

PFitzgibbo: No! Stay away from the windows! The Nasdaq is still up something like 80% in the past 1 1/2 year the market is pretty bad right now, but think about where it was at this time last year and there's still been a lot of money made.

Question: Harley-Davidson's earnings were better then expected. What are they doing so right?

PFitzgibbo: Harley has a great brand name and -- for those who know these things -- they say they have great bikes. It seems to be performing very well right now.

SageMoola: Thank you very much for joining us today, Mr. Fitzgibbons!

PFitzgibbo: Thanks for having me and I'll see you all at TheStreet.com.

OnlineHost: We have been speaking with Pat Fitzgibbons, markets editor, TheStreet.com. Visit Keyword: TheStreet.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints