Kurt Karl Oil Quotations

Consumers are facing high oil prices, but they are still displaying a remarkable amount of resilience.

This is a very positive, strong report and encouraging because it included Katrina and a spike in oil prices and we still just seem to have a lot of momentum going into the fourth quarter.

It is unclear if things are slowing down or speeding up given all the volatility we've had in weather and oil prices.

It's a solid, strong report. But we have to remember we are coming from a very weak fourth quarter, so this is mainly a rebound from those weak levels. Consumption and investment remain strong and inflation keeps ticking up, but most of it is still related to oil prices. This could bode well for markets this Friday.

Oil prices are higher and there's a constraint on the consumer because of that. You've also got rising interest rates and a slowing housing market.