Drew Matus Quotes on Business & Commerce (4 Quotes)

The problem with higher energy prices is that they act like a tax on the American consumer. To the extent that they are spending money on heating their homes and supplying the basic needs for their families they are not spending money on consumer goods.

Higher oil increasingly will creep into the indicators. Today, it biased the trade gap higher and pushed up import prices and also impeded the consumer sentiment number.

This is obviously an extraordinarily strong report, led by the consumer, but also with good signs about the state of the business sector and business confidence.

On a real basis the trade deficit widened by over 1.7 billion for the month and places the trade balance on a trajectory that would likely reduce fourth-quarter GDP growth by more than 0.5 percent.