It's really the Fed at this point that's kept the market in check. |
It's really the Fed at this point that's kept the market in check. The historic conversation between the Fed and the markets has become a bit of an argument over whether there's really inflation, and whether we need those rate hikes. |
It's remarkable that consumer confidence remains so high and it may help bring to stocks some buying momentum. Companies in the industrial and consumer sectors are the most likely to benefit from high confidence levels at the start of 2006. |
Look for it in the earnings of discount retailers, restaurants and travel sectors. Start to look for GDP to be impacted, earnings in the third and fourth quarters, especially now because we're starting to approach the home heating season. This is not good. We haven't seen anything like this in the better part of 25 years, where you start to have people thinking about gas lines. |
Most companies have already reported their earnings, and I think we're getting to a quiet period where it can be tough to keep anything positive going. There's still a lot out there to deal with. |
My sense is that the high oil prices we've sustained throughout this year are beginning to take hold in the operating costs of a wider swath of US companies. |
Right now, it's like an absence of bad news is being treated as good news. |
Right now, it's like an absence of bad news is being treated as good news. I see it as just a lot of noise right now. There's still a lot out there to deal with. |
Some investors worry that if the inversion persists, it may signal a tough time ahead for the economy. But it's still too soon to know it for sure. |
That pass was a duck. If anybody would have had a shotgun in the area, it would have been shot. In practice (Bryant) throws bullets. He looks like Brett Favre, but then in the game ... |
That shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, because all the background was in place for that to happen what with rising interest rates and consumer spending where it's at, ... We may be seeing the beginning of a real slowdown in the housing market. That's a big concern hanging out there. |
That shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, because all the background was in place for that to happen what with rising interest rates and consumer spending where it's at, ... We may be seeing the beginning of a real slowdown in the housing market. That's a big concern. |
The big guys, they won't touch that with somebody's else 10-foot pole, let alone their own. |
The chances of him being successful with that are slim to none, and slim just left town. |
The economy had been incredibly resilient in the face of lots of potential threats. Those threats have started to take hold in slower growth and corporate earnings, and I think it could get worse yet in the fourth quarter. |