Quick & Reilly Clients Foresee More Market Volatility

Quick & Reilly customers are expecting volatility in the stock market over the next 12 months.

Seventy-seven percent of investors who responded to a Quick & Reilly quarterly survey-conducted last month by the research firm Wirthlin Worldwide-said they believe the Dow Jones industrial average could drop below 10,000 within six months.

However, nearly one-third predicted a grimmer scenario, forecasting a decline below 9,000 within six months.

But for the longer term, investors remain bullish. Seventy-two percent predicted that volatility could help propel the market to 12,000 within the next year.

A Quick & Reilly spokesman said investors are probably basing their predictions on market turbulence over the last three months.

"We've seen a lot of volatility, particularly in the high-flying Internet stocks," he said.

Five hundred clients of Quick & Reilly, the discount brokerage arm of Fleet Financial Group, were questioned.

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