We do think you're going to see a drop off in consumer spending in coming months. Part of the reason is workers are experiencing pain in their take-home pay. You're still seeing other areas of the economy kicking in. These will offset some of the negatives from lower consumer spending.

The data are consistent with very gradual cooling in the housing market.

Most of the market is looking at Rita.

It's pretty funny how quickly sentiment can swing, but I think it's too soon for the Fed to pause (in raising rates). This morning's number keeps the Fed on track continuing 25 basis points (quarter-point) hikes.

This is stronger than expected, the highest since spring of last year. But it's less important since it doesn't show anything about the impact of Katrina and everyone's focused on Katrina right now.

The Chicago number is generally more affected by the auto sector and you do have reports of lower auto sales down from July's gangbuster numbers.

We feel that such a possibility is still a long way off, but it is a development that bears watching.

It really does reflect the enormous amount of coverage of the Katrina disaster.

From an economic perspective, it tells us that we are still having a fairly solid growth in both manufacturing and the overall outlook in the near term.