Ken Wattret Quotations

There is a risk going forward that if sterling remains exceptionally strong particularly against the euro, that will knock the recovery in the U.K.,

Whatever happens the euro will fall. Even an aggressive move - half a percentage point - wouldn't help, and then they'll have used all their ammunition up.

Whatever happens the euro will fall, ... Even an aggressive move - half a percentage point - wouldn't help, and then they'll have used all their ammunition up.

We may be in danger of losing the bigger picture here. The data are consistent with a rate rise, whichever way you look at it.

The data tells us that recovery is on its way, but it's not booming growth.

This will encourage the ECB to lower rates sooner rather than later, ... Their own growth target (for the euro zone) is 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 percent. They won't achieve that now.

There was a herd mentality to stampede and get on board. That brought the markets to a certain fever pitch.

There's a feeling that high oil prices combined with damage from Hurricane Katrina will hurt the U.S. economy, bringing the Fed's tightening cycle to a swift end. This is boosting demand for bonds.

The (second-quarter) numbers are nothing to shout about, and they could have been worse, ... We can expect the third quarter to be subdued and possibly a better fourth quarter.

The signals were very explicit, given the weakness of the euro and pressure on inflation starting to come through,

So the fact we got growth of about half a percent tells you how poor the performance was over the last year.

This is going to be more of a newspaper headline budget rather than one for any macro economic changes,

This economic cycle is different from others. It's been great news for the corporate sector but not for the household sector.

It's the lowest level of growth for almost a decade and the government had indicated it was expecting something in the region of 3 percent,

The obvious focus for the market will be the core PPI, and given what we've seen for consumer prices, we should see a relatively modest increase there,

That is a recipe for market volatility, and I think it will increase rather than grow less in the months ahead.

The U.S.-Europe story is getting played out and is fully discounted in the euro and bond markets.

The consensus PMI forecast was for a small decline and that's what we got, so it was a neutral outcome in the end,

In terms of fiscal policy very little is expected from the budget.

For the ECB to be hiking rates, they needed to see some clear signs of growth. And they are getting it now in abundance.

The euro remains competitive, well below levels witnessed at the start of European monetary union when there was little complaint from manufacturers,

The collective denial on the euro zone economic recovery is belatedly challenged as markets and forecasters finally wake up to reality.

The market's negative reaction to today's press conference is entirely justified.