Consumers aren’t knocking the cover off the ball. Their confidence isn’t a grand slam, but they aren’t striking out, either.

All of these corporate chieftains are saying new hiring is in the cards, around the corner, down the road — but that doesn’t mean March.

For all intents and purposes the Fed is going to move at a measured pace whether that word is in there or not. And now, the longer end of the yield curve should react more...

I can’t imagine that these energy prices aren’t elevated through the winter. We anticipate even higher prices. Companies don’t want to hire ahead of uncertainty.

By any measure, third-quarter economic growth was quite impressive. It would be even more impressive if it could be sustained in the fourth quarter, but we’re almost certain to lose some momentum.

The problem, and every Fed official is fully aware of this, is that every recession since 1971 has been preceded by two things: higher oil prices and an increasing federal funds rate.

Greenspan will take it away on Wednesday like everyone’s saying here, but he’s only taking it away momentarily, … He’s taking one and he’s done.

I give him an A-plus. Job 1 was, ‘Don’t upset the market,’ and he didn’t do that.

As the economy goes, so, too, goes job creation.

Americans are not going to be happy, but they now face considerably higher energy prices. That’s going to be the norm, not the exception.

I had a low forecast for February simply because we had terrible weather, … Yet, we still managed to have this kind of activity. So this is very encouraging for housing. Had it not been...

This is the guy you want now.

Retailers and construction companies just weren’t hiring last month. Retailers did less hiring this holiday season.

[But analysts noted many market participants choose to remain sidelined until the release of Friday’s key employment data.] Friday’s payroll number is critical, … Not too many people are willing to take large positions ahead...

Inflation is not a problem and generally isn’t during periods of economic weakness, … This is simply because producers cannot pass along increased prices.

If they didn’t pause after Katrina, they are not going to pause in the next few months.

Inflation pressures are rising, but at a subdued pace.

There are a number of things weighing heavily on corporate decision making. They’re hesitant to go forward with anything above the bare necessity to keep their business profitable.

The big problem now is what does the Fed do with this. How does the Fed take the foot off the brake when you have stellar job creation and signs of increasing inflation?

God forbid this happened next year when we’ll have a new kid on the block, … We did have that with Greenspan in 1987, and he did fine.

The December inflation picture may look relatively benign, but the early 2006 outlook is considerably different.

I firmly believe that the Fed does not know what it’s going to do, certainly not at this point, … the big linchpin in this whole thing.

With job-market conditions being what they are, I don’t see how consumers will be out there spending up a storm in coming months,

As long as there is a perception that higher prices are in the tea leaves, that’s a problem certainly for policy makers. And I think that’s why the Federal Reserve seems hellbent on raising rates.

We already knew that economic growth in the fourth quarter was depressed. The pace of economic growth in the first quarter may be three times as fast, generating a lot of momentum as we head...

Businesses have had every incentive for investment spending, and they haven’t taken that opportunity. I can’t see how [the tax provision] expiring changes that too much.

The February drop in retail sales is not a sign that the economy is losing momentum. It is simply a payback for extraordinary numbers in January.

The economy is motoring along and we are indeed creating more than a decent amount of jobs. But there are a number of hurdles that lie in our path of prosperity ? record energy prices...

But so far three of the four [key interest rate reports] have come out looking really good and the Fed’s going to have to really stretch to get that next rate hike.

Elevated energy prices, questionable holiday spending and the rising interest rate environment are sending yellow caution flags around many corporate board rooms.

People buying generators sounds more like a smart insurance plan to protect some of their assets, rather than a sign they’re living in fear. It may dampen people’s outlook a little bit, but not in...

Another rate hike is all but a done deal.

Now it’s time to pay the piper and get this deficit back down to more manageable levels, and I believe the president’s budget will address these issues,

It’s looking like this party we’re all talking about has turned into a gala.

You haven’t heard one story in the last ten months, 12 months, of any company saying, hey, we have intentions of hiring. We’re going to be hiring. No company has said that.

It’s not really that shocking; we kind of expected it, … As the economy begins to moderate, we’ll get these sporadic spurts of growth — like an engine running out of gas. We suspect the...

I believe that the housing market has moved from a boil to a simmer.

That’s not a lot of money available to hire new workers and invest in new equipment — if businesses wanted to do that, and that doesn’t seem to be case.

It’s not a subject that anyone can afford to fail.

I can’t see the state of job creation changing for the better anytime soon.

As it stands right now, we’re looking down to about 2.5 percent [GDP growth] in the second quarter and third quarter, which is perfect for what the Fed would want. That would really play into...

Every piece of economic data we have received over the last six weeks is showing signs of higher inflation that threatens to erode economic growth. The after-shocks of the hurricanes may be longer and deeper...

We gave back some ground because the data proved that the economic slowdown isn’t necessarily a sure thing, … If consumer confidence remains at near all-time highs, the economy will continue to expand.

We are convinced that a large portion of the tax refunds that are scheduled to arrive in consumers’ mailboxes in March and April will be dedicated to these exorbitant energy costs, … With that, there’ll...

It’s not all roses in the labor market. I think the worst is behind us, but we’re more likely to have flat, or sideways, movements in job creation for the next year, year and a...

Consumers are partying like it’s 1999, … They are celebrating their full-employment status and they are spending. The punch bowl is only spiked with 1-1/2 percent inflation, which isn’t anything.

By historical comparison, there?s not an economist on the street that can call housing weak right now. If this is the soft patch, it?s pretty darn good for a soft patch.

We caution investors; one month of stellar job creation does not a trend make. And since the entire Street has diminished economic growth projections for 2005, we have to stick to our guns of slower,...

I don’t think this is worrisome at all. We’re coming off an extremely strong month.

We are going to have a winter of discontent.