Right now ... there's the perception out there that somehow the Republicans are taking care of our security a lot more than they are our economy. If we get full Republican control ... we may see it have a negative impact on confidence. |
Saying that higher oil prices have not increased the risk of recession or serious economic slowdown is clearly not the same thing as saying that they have not had an impact. |
Several times in the last year we've seen mortgage rates creeping up and housing hasn't responded. Now the Federal Reserve has put some credibility behind the increase in rates. I think it set a general tone for the housing market that it'll be a lot more muted. |
Since the beginning of this year, the economy has been recovering gradually....In that environment, a gradually rising stock market would be justified. Instead we got a sharp decline. Can we justify this rally? Absolutely....But we can't justify a thousand-point increase every week. |
So why don't we get a 100-point or 200-point day? Because this is a pause, not an end to the Fed tightening. |
That report certainly reveals the recession is not over. The gains we had in September are not sustainable and illustrate why the central bank has to continue to lower rates. At this juncture, the easing of rates basically is serving as a consumer confidence booster. |
That's a great number that basically calms a lot of the fears out there. |
That's not as great as 2003 earnings growth, but still positive. |
That's not to say consumer spending will collapse, but there's no doubt it will lag growth in the rest of the economy. I'm hoping [business] capital investment will take up some of the slack. |
That's one of the reasons the futures are up now. There's a growing expectation that this CPI will be as friendly as the PPI was. |
That's still not up to par, still not what people expected at this point in the recovery. |
The auction also showed that foreign appetite for our securities remain voracious, which in itself is another positive sign. |
The average hourly earnings figures were truly the spoiler of this report, ... It tells us that the Fed may now have to start becoming more vigilant about upcoming price pressures. |
The best way to describe this report is 'holy cow,' ... This is a great report. We have Alan Greenspan a little bit worried about inflation and certainly the financial markets will realize that those worries certainly continue to prove to be unfounded. |
The best way to read the numbers is going to be to average the two months' data because the hurricanes are distorting the wider picture, ... But excluding the hurricane effects, we're doing 190,000 to 200,000 new jobs a month and that's quite healthy. |