John Davidson Economy Quotations

The ongoing issues are the strength of the economy and whether or not the pace of the recovery is in fact slowing down. One of the important things this week will be to see the extent of the damage.

What's limiting us on the upside is the double-digit gains we saw in 2003. What limits us to the downside is that the economy continues to strengthen, although concerns about the job market persist.

Bush needs pretty quickly to turn this economy around. If we languish for the next two years, it'll be the last two years of Bush's presidency.

He may say something to the effect that the economy remains strong and that they will continue to raise rates.

Greenspan talked very little about the current state of the economy and was really admonishing lawmakers, and he made it very clear that there will be no interest-rate cut announced after the meeting on Sept. 24. I think this may have disappointed some investors hoping for a rate cut or something more aggressive to help stocks.

I think we have continued volatility until we really see signs of growth in the economy slowing. When we see the economy slowing, I think that people will be more comfortable with the fact that maybe Greenspan is not going to have to continue to raise rates, then I think the market can move ahead.

Despite the decline, the ISM report was very positive, and what you can take away from it is that the economy is continuing to expand. The question for 2004 is whether that continued expansion has already been reflected in the 25 percent returns you saw in stocks last year.

The belief has been that if the economy is recovering and corporate profits are improving, equity markets will fall in line eventually,

I'm looking for a recovery in the economy in the second half of the year, contingent on a continued aggressive Fed and a tax cut. I see a consumer-led recovery in the second half and that will help give us an earnings boost.