Stephen Gallagher Quotations

Unit labor costs moving up is seen as fanning some of the Fed's concerns on inflation, but I doubt from the Fed's perspective that this changes their view very much,

We're seeing a reduced impact from the hurricanes and we're getting back to the underlying norm. We're looking for about an 80,000 increase in non-farm payrolls in October, and it's still picking up.

On the headline, it's a great report, up 5.8 percent. The recovery is under way. But we're also beginning to see a bottom in durable equipment declines, which is important because it's about corporate profits. But we still need that to be stronger to make sure that this recovery is here to stay.

Businesses have been through a lot over the last few years, and many of them don't have a great deal of tolerance for uncertainty.

Retailers have no pricing power themselves, as evidenced by all the discounts they had to offer to generate holiday sales. In terms of volume, they succeeded, but not at the level of profitability they would have liked.

Reduced liquidity in the markets is likely to result in a wider swap spread.

We have a very healthy economy with little inflation. We could have this kind of growth for the next couple of years.

Employment growth is very healthy for the economy. Job and income gains will remain supportive for consumer activity.

Real consumption expenditures will likely be a full percentage above our earlier estimates of 5.0 percent to 5.5 percent. As a result, real GDP in the first quarter is more likely between 5.5 percent and 6.0 percent.

Coming out of Greenspan's shadow is a difficult enough task for anyone. The burden of that task is complicated by the immediate economic situation.

It's a very strong report. We're seeing a lot of strength in the consumer and business sectors.

It may be even more that one (rate hike). If they move once there is always another chance for another one, but I think the message that we got from Greenspan today is that it will not be an aggressive increase in rates.

It's pretty much all due to autos. We got a solid rebound in auto sales last month due to the new discounts put in place in mid-November.

Once the auto surge plays out, we should see a pickup in spending on other items.

It's really very good. Core inflation is fairly low and energy prices will decrease rapidly in the next month or two.

The Fed is not going to stop but it has got to be a bit more encouraged that their big fear ... that there would be pass-through from energy to other goods and they really are not seeing it.

The Fed is worried about pass-through, and even if they don't see it in the September numbers it won't make them feel secure about the future. This will help the markets remain confident that inflation is low but not necessarily convince the Fed.

Investors maintain a healthy economic growth outlook, but now with lower inflation and interest rate risks.

This is negative news and giving the market reason to pause a little. The core number is up 0.3 instead of 0.2. It's all it takes.

The housing numbers look pretty strong, but we have to discount them due to the mild weather effects. We are getting confirmations from the companies themselves about lower orders.

The inflationary implications drawn from the combination of exceptional growth and higher inflation could become more ominous when we incorporate the tightening labor market trends.