We had expected a rebound. Gasoline prices are down a lot, so that is good news, but they are still very high and that may be what is weighing on people's minds at this point.

256

We don't know the exact cause or reason, but it's certainly clear when you look at the worst-ever catastrophic event, which it looks like Katrina will be, we're in a different world, and it's a much more risky world for catastrophic events.

248

We improved in May, but it looked too good, so we may have some payback and that could move the market. The possibility of a record deficit would be a shock. It's a negative risk for the equity market.

233

This is O.K. news on inflation, ... There is no major worry here. No components are rising rapidly.

217

We have a housing valuation issue. The time is now for raising interest rates and defusing these problems potentially by slowing down the economy a bit and avoiding a big necessary increase later and a consequential recession.

138

The key number for the Fed was actually the unemployment rate and it went down and has been declining steadily. Wages continue to rise and the Fed has to continue to raise interest rates. This isn't weak enough to stop them.

124

It doesn't look like a very bad report to me.

114

The year-on-year was (up) 2.2 percent. That is a change and that is worrisome for the Fed. You would expect a bit of a sell-off in the bond market.

111

My view on inflation is we'll continue to get reports like this, and the biggest numbers we'll get are 0.1s and 0.2s, ... U.S. consumers just turn it off when they see the prices go up, as happened last month with cars, so it's going to be hard for retailers to sustain any major price increases.

100