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Valley stockbrokers report increase in buyers By BILL KETTLER After Monday's big selloff on Wall Street, Southern Oregon stock brokers were wondering who the sellers were. "I got more calls from people who were asking what they should be buying today," said James Kidd, an Ashland investment representative for the Edward Jones brokerage firm. "I'll be real curious to see who was doing the selling." The Dow Jones industrials suffered their biggest one-day point drop, 684.81, (7.1 percent) and fell below 9,000 for the first time in more than 21/2 years. The market's tumble wasn't unexpected after a four-day closure, said Ray Cox, branch manager for UBS Painewebber in Medford. "There's always a reason to sell," Cox said. "There's not always a reason to buy. We had four days of pent-up demand to sell." Cox said Wall Street's decline was similar to the drop in stock prices in other countries after terrorists crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last Tuesday. Soon after the markets closed Monday, Kidd said it was too early to know whether the selling was led by big institutions, programmed sales driven by computers, or individual investors. Some investors were looking for bargains, said Lyn Hennion, a financial adviser at Strand Atkinson Williams and York. Others wanted to buy as an expression of patriotism. "They wanted to support their country by being a buyer," Hennion said. Kidd and Hennion said they spent much of last week talking to clients, explaining that stocks were likely to dip when markets reopened. "Most understood that the market was going to drop," Hennion said. Several local offices of national brokerage firms declined to talk about the market's first day. Ryhan McDermott, branch manager for A.G. Edwards and Sons, said local branches had been instructed not to grant interviews until further notice. Bill Smith, branch manager for Salomon Smith Barney said he could not talk without prior approval from the corporate public relations office. A broker who asked not to be identified said the major firms' reluctance to speak was sparked by fears that some local broker might say something "that could get picked up by The Associated Press. "It's just easier to forbid everyone from talking," the broker said. Cox said the markets' ability to process a record volume of more than 5 billion shares demonstrates their ability to overcome the physical damage inflicted by terrorists. "I don't think some people understand the magnitude of getting the markets open and keeping them going," he said. "There were more shares traded (in one day) than ever before. People need to know that in and of itself is an incredible accomplishment." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.