Lara Rhame Quotes on Confidence (5 Quotes)

Even if the Fed got very concerned about these headwinds -- business investment, consumer confidence, stock market frailty -- they'd be asking themselves if cutting another 25 basis points one-quarter percentage point would do any good whatsoever. That I seriously question.

This is undeniably good news. The crucial question going forward is going to be if the rise in confidence is reflected in more spending on the part of the consumer, or if it's simply a patriotic rally.

Certainly this Christmas shopping season is going to make for a lot of very negative headlines. The concern is that this weakness will be a self-reinforcing phenomenon, but the confidence numbers indicate that may not happen.

A lot of people don't understand that the ISM number is not actually an output number. It's the equivalent of consumer confidence, but for businesses. So certainly outlook has improved, but it remains to be seen how clearly that will translate into actual activity.

It's probably wise they cut before the opening bell. They wouldn't want to be seen as reacting to the stock market, but they are trying to show that they are willing to do what it takes to maintain confidence.