Mark Vitner Quotes (101 Quotes)

Normally, economists downplay periodic swings in energy prices, ... However, the most recent run-up is a source of concern because it may be raising inflation expectations. Workers do not live in a world that excludes food and energy prices. Wage demands, especially in the current tight labor market, will be based on the increase in the overall CPI.

This may be the last bad PPI report we'll see for quite some time, ... This might be the height of this particular inflation scare.

If we had an anti-business Congress that went after pension reform aggressively, it could have a devastating impact on Wall Street.

There was a huge sign of relief when the number came in above 100, and that's why the market rallied, ... There was a thought that the combination of rising interest rates and higher gas prices would knock it below 100.

It (consumer sentiment) was a little higher than expected, but the stock market has come back, gasoline prices have come down, and the weather has been beautiful and that has to affect consumers somewhat.

While it seems counterintuitive, higher gasoline prices are actually helping restrain core inflation, ... With more money being spent for gasoline, consumers have fewer dollars left for discretionary purchases. The net result is that firms are slashing prices on everything from cars to beer in order to move product.

The trucking industry is very competitive, so driving up the costs of hiring drivers has not really translated that much to price pressure for finished goods.

Exports are off in virtually every category. I don't see much near-term improvement for the trade deficit. The trade deficit will probably shave about 0.5 percent off of third quarter Gross Domestic Product.

The prices paid is still way up there, inflation is still running a little hot, enough that the Fed will continue to raise interest rates.

We haven't seen that much improvement in employment of hourly workers because the job market for lower-skill workers still has a lot of slack in it. But if you look at skilled workers, it's a much different picture. We're starting to see some real shortages in some sectors.

The Fed has to conduct a bit of a high wire act. If rates were to rise quickly that would put part of the economic expansion at risk, particularly residential construction and commercial development.

There's just such an enormous demand from pension funds and insurance companies to match their assets with the liabilities of the boomer generation.

The No. 1 reason new orders and production are falling is that inventories have risen in recent months as consumer spending has slowed. Such a buildup was acceptable when economic growth was accelerating. Now that growth is cooling off, businesses will need to curb stockpiles.

What would change this is if we were to see an unanticipated strengthening in the U.S. dollar. We'd see less people coming from Latin America.

Inflation at the end of the day is headed higher, it's just not going to happen that dramatically this year.

Markets are rational and forward-looking. However, they can also be wrong.

The major story in these places is very rapid population growth, with retirees, seasonal residents and tourists coming in,

High gasoline prices gradually eat away at income. The effect isn't felt all at once. We have seen consumers change their behavior in recent months and there should be further changes if prices stay at these levels.

The labor market seems to be improving. It bolsters the case we've been making that the economic slowdown story is a little oversold. Clearly growth is moderating, but we're still likely to see some decent growth the second half of the year.

The unemployment rate is likely to hang around 4.5 percent and finish the year somewhere near 4 percent. That would mean that North Carolina would be back in the familiar position of having an unemployment rate below that of the nation.

It confirms that this recession in 2001 was not particularly mild or as short as some folks had thought, ... We were expecting at least two negative quarters, and the fact we had three is a little bit of a surprise. That helps explain why we're having so

I truly believe that they would like to stop at 5 percent, but if we get a really strong number (for economic growth) in the first quarter it may be hard to do that.

A very high proportion of that job growth is occurring in high-paying professions. This is a demand-driven market and demand vastly exceeds supply.

The Fed can't wait for core inflation to pick up before they act,

It gives the Fed a little more breathing room on interest rates, that's the most I can say.

As long as energy prices remain high, they're likely to move in baby steps. I just don't think it's a slam dunk that they raise rates in December.

When combined with the anticipated double-digit gains in employer health-care costs, manufacturers may find it very difficult to add to their payrolls next year and may opt to work their existing work forces longer.

The number one problem continues to be a lack of job and income growth.

The federal response has been much larger than we thought it would be, ... And the money is being spent much more quickly.

But pension accounting is awfully complicated and it's an awfully big company, so it's not surprising the markets would get a little spooked by it.

We're not likely to see reports as good as this the second half of the year. We know gasoline prices picked back up in July. But inflation should stay in basically in check.

We've had very little economic growth, virtually no job growth. The only way you'll get income growth is through wage increases or through tax cuts.

You can't get a strong economy if everybody's against business. It's awfully hard to create jobs if everybody's anti-business.

The mystery is why this prolonged profit slump has not led to a larger cutback in consumer spending, ... The longer the profit drought persists the greater the risk is that this recession will broaden and deepen.

We're shifting from an economy driven by consumer spending and home building to one driven by business investment.

Recent trends show the price pressures are well contained, with the exception of oil, ... The core CPI rose at just a 1.8 percent annual rate over the past three months, which is slightly below the 1.9 percent year-to-year gain. That means the core CPI is unlikely to accelerate in the next few months and allows the Fed to continue its policy of just gradually pushing up interest rates.

Certainly they would like to stop at five (percent), and I don't think this number prevents them from doing that, but it is something that should raise some doubts.

With so many folks sensing that interest rates were rising, we probably had some sales pulled from April into March,

If we see an increase in rent we could really see inflation numbers pick up in a meaningful way.

Corporate America is on the mend. The only downside of stronger productivity growth is that it means hiring is lagging. As far as downsides go, this is roughly the equivalent of eating your broccoli. It may be tough to stomach at first, but it makes you stronger and healthier in the long run.

Hiring in business and professional services will once again lead the way.

It suggests there could be a profit squeeze in some of the cyclical industries, ... Autos. Household appliances. Anything that has a lot of raw commodity in it. The end user is going to have a hard time passing those costs on to the consumers.

I think it's going to be a bad month for retailers. The news was so horrific coming out of New Orleans that it made people not feel like going out to dinner.

I'm not too sure we're going to hear that much that will disturb markets, but I'm sure he'll say at least something hinting that long-term interest rates are too low,

I don't think there's much doubt the Fed will raise rates by a quarter point each of the next three meetings. Even a really strong report probably won't cause them to raise rates by a half-point.

Our reading of the Dec. 13 minutes is that the members of the Federal Open Market Committee feel the economy is very close to achieving a near-perfect landing.

You could even interpret the minutes to read that economic growth has already slowed to its long-run potential and that the federal funds rate is already at a neutral level. The Fed's commentary describes an economy that is nearing or already in the early stages of a soft landing.

The more important figure (than confidence) for the economy is what consumers actually do. Consumers are not sitting on their wallets just yet. But that is about the only bright spot in this morning's report. With consumers concerned about both their stock portfolios and employment prospects, spending will likely rise a little less rapidly this fall.

Today's personal income report had very good news on inflation.

Unemployment is low in places that were and were not impacted by hurricanes. It has been low for quite some time all across the state.