Looking Forward in 2009

Looking Forward in 2009

Nicole Petallides is hopeful for the new year. As the New York Stock Exchange anchor for the FOX Business Network, Petallides is well aware of the economic pitfalls of 2008. From the beginnings of panic with Fannie and Freddie to the $50 billion loss associated with Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, consumers rely on reporters such as Petallides to deliver the news—difficult as it might be— to them. While it’s a hard job, which has recently become even harder, Petallides couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Petallides grew up in Great Neck, NY, and is a self-described “Long Island Girl.” She says, “I love Long Island. I grew up there, I’m always there, I go there every weekend, from the vineyards to the beaches to the recreation. There’s so much to do there.” It was in the place she loves that she interned with Cablevision’s News 12 after her junior year in college, cultivating her passion for television and the news.  “It’s so exciting,” she says, “I love when they’re in my ear and they say ‘30 seconds!’ and news is breaking and I can deliver it as it happens. I hope to connect with the viewer. I enjoy what I do a lot. I love it!”

Able to thrive in a high-pressure environment, Petallides has been working inside the NYSE for more than 10 years and has spent that time establishing connections and learning when to follow the story. “I’ll be standing here and I’ll hear, ‘Nicole, I’m hearing this…’ and throughout the day they’re handing me papers. It’s one thing to sit behind a desk in an office; it’s another to sit here on the trading floor.” The connections she’s made include high-profile investors who are constantly on the phone with Europe, Japan, and other global markets. She says she loves the ever-changing environment, and that she is constantly learning.

Recently, however, Petallides has been learning the not-so-positive aspects of the economy. Though it’s been difficult as a business reporter, Petallides knows how to handle it, and maintains a positive attitude while sympathizing with her viewers and the general consumer population. While she says it’s always easier to report good news than bad news, “I tread carefully and I try to be empathetic because as a business reporter, everyone tells me their stories of loss and it really is tough. I mean, I sometimes can’t sleep at night.”

In her efforts to remain optimistic and recognize the resilience of the market, Petallides understands consumer resentment, but she encourages patience and says that the second half of 2009 will probably be when the public starts to see improvements. But she also sees this time as an opportunity. “Dare to take a chance now. There are great buying opportunities. Dip your toe into the market – not your whole foot – your toe. Do your research. I think [that] long term, if you’re buying at these levels, you won’t go wrong,” she advises.

The key point is: Do your research. Petallides explains that disastrous and sometimes unpredictable situations such as the Bernie Madoff scheme are completely unprecedented, and the way to avoid such a thing in the future is to “do your homework.” “Madoff himself was on a ‘trust me’ sort of basis,” she says. “He would tell people ‘just trust me.’ In an effort to avoid such a situation happening again with your own investments, you really have to do your homework, research bigger firms.”

Petallides notes that a major problem has become the investors’ lack of confidence in the market, and the news about Madoff only added to that concern. “People are worried for so many reasons, and it just makes it worse for the confidence of someone who was thinking about investing again. It increases the nervousness and jitters that people have,” she says, emphasizing that Madoff represented a “very unusual circumstance.”

In this post-holiday season, consumers can expect to see a few things, according to Petallides. Her contacts in the market are talking of a bottom for housing before summer, when things will start to turn around. As far as trading, there’s been talk of a sideways market, she says. “Sideways to up, not sideways to down. I think people think that the government has been very productive in turning it around.”

Petallides says that consumers can learn from what the big companies are doing. “They’re hitting the treadmill,” she says, and producing a “lean and mean” environment. Consumers should follow suit. “Try and be lean and mean just like these companies. I think that Americans and America are strong entities, and I think that everyone everywhere has tightened their belts, and it’s a better way to live. Companies that were leveraged, people that were living beyond their means … that’s not the best way to live. In some ways this has helped a lot of people get their ducks in a row,” she says.

Petallides suggests if you have an extra small amount of cash (as little as $10 to $50), you should buy a share of stock and “take a chance. If you have a favorite store, favorite food, favorite something – if you love it, chances are others love it, too. Buy some stock!”

For those still reeling from the economic events of 2008, Petallides reminds us that everything is cyclical, and stresses that people’s worst fears about the economy are not going to come true. But we can all take away something from what we’ve seen. With everyone tightening and trimming, we’re learning how to spend more wisely, Petallides says. Hopeful for a turnaround in the second half of 2009, she remains optimistic. “We’re at the end of it now. It’s a cycle and you have to wait, be patient, and think long term.”