Earnings are likely to continue to become more favorable, and I believe that will counteract the negative effect of rising rates to provide for higher stock valuations by year-end.

Robert Balentine

The risk is definitely on the inflation front and its implication for rates.

Owen Fitzpatrick

From a fixed-income point of view, which I'm looking at, it's a little bit disappointing. We have seen the bottom on longer-term rates; everybody is assuming this may be the end of this party.

Anthony Hsieh

If you can pay two to three times the minimum then it makes sense to negotiate your rates.

Tom Coates

Market concerns increased also after softer-than-expected quarterly earnings by Microsoft and the increase in lending rates by the Chinese central bank.

Masayoshi Yano

The first conditions were economic, including the passage of structural reform policies that favored economic growth. We've also had low interest rates and low inflation, which is a big change from the past.

Javier Viveros

Traders normally try to use the supply story to push rates higher.

George Goncalves

You want to talk about Keating? 17% interest rates.

Mark Latham

A lot of businesses don't realize that a lot of rates on their bills are based on demand charges, which can be $2 to $4 per kilowatt. So if you can bring down your demand number by 10 per cent, that's a big chunk off your bill.

Wayne Beamish

With most economic data pointing to continued strength, it's likely and would be prudent, for the ECB to raise rates in March.

John Maskell

The rapid easing of monetary and fiscal policy this time around should enable the economy to return to positive growth more quickly than usual and with lower interest rates and inflation than during the 1990s expansion.

Harvey Rosenblum

You've got this awkward confluence of a Fed that's getting nearer and nearer to some critical level of rates and an inflation forecast that has been more in doubt or more in play than it has been for some time.

Robert Diclemente

The intent is to have the rates set at such a level that (the lane) doesn't get overcrowded -- that's the purpose of a having a variable rate.

Mark Scheibe

As rates float higher, it's better to keep your money close to home and wait for better opportunities down the road.

George Goncalves

The overall PMI shows we are still in rate cut territory. But the PMI has been below this (current) level and the ECB has not cut rates, so this survey on its own will add little to the chance of a rate cut.

Chris Williamson

But I think people are more worried about what will happen in the U.S. with their interest rates.

Michael Heffernan

This business is one of the most predatory on the face of the earth, ... It preys on people who can least afford it. They have higher rates than loan sharks. They may not break any legs, but they are taking food out of the mouth of kids.

Jack Clark

Since the Reserve Bank of Australia raised rates in March, the housing market has just been going sideways. Rates are on hold until the third quarter of this year.

Michael Every

So far, the debt payment ratio (of loan payments to income) hasn't been higher this decade than during the 1990s, but it's been partly held in check by lower interest rates. In some sense, we haven't seen the whole burden bearing down yet.

Heather Boushey

The drought compounds what was already a dire humanitarian situation and is affecting communities in areas beset by years of high malnutrition and morbidity rates, chronic food insecurity, clan fighting and suffering from consecutive bad harvests.

Maxwell Gaylard

There are thousands of different card products, some are offered with low interest rates, some are offered with no fees, some are offered with a cash rebate.

Kevin Arquit

Montrose County rates are higher than most and a significant increase will absolutely kill the economy.

Steve Stuhmer

Profits for auto insurers have skyrocketed with the direct assistance of provincial governments. These governments have legislated reduced benefits by putting caps on payments to victims of crashes in the hope rates would come down.

Bruce Cran

Growth prospects have brightened ... Against this background and due to the excess liquidity in the euro zone, which is a threat for price stability, the ECB will hike interest rates in 2006 to 2.75 per cent.

Gernot Griebling

The deals have been the de-icing on the cake. The more dominant issue is the Nasdaq bounce, which we remain distrustful of, as we feel the market is being too complacent about interest rates.

George Hodgson

With 2001 revenue growth rates now expected to be in a range of 9 to 18 percent and earnings per share growth expected to be negative 12 to 33 percent, we believe Yahoo!'s price-earnings multiple will contract until the company is able to demonstrate significantly higher growth rates.

Mark Rowen

We had indicated to the JFF some time ago that we intended for the new rates to be in place this season and it was not happening.

Peter Prendergast

It causes severe illness and high mortality rates.

Dr. Mark Horton

What the students didn't anticipate at the time is that interest rates in the last few years have gone way down. Now 6.8 percent as a fixed rate doesn't look so good.

Patricia Smith

The greatest rates of appreciation have been in the Rocky Mountain states, where job growth has been exceptional.

John Tuccillo

It seems to us a 20 percent increase is absolutely achievable. It would be quite possible for (the miners) to say to the Chinese, we would deliver iron ore to you at the same prices you got in 2005 given that freight rates have come down by half.

Alan Heap

Today's crime rates, the political situation and public life allow us to hold the elections because a civil society has been built in the Chechen republic.

Alu Alkhanov

Everyone agrees we need to take steps to avoid swings in exchange rates.

Oskar Lafontaine

The record lows in mortgage interest rates naturally drew buyers into the market, with many more jumping in when interest rates began to rise.

Walt Mcdonald

(The market) is telling you that at these levels, given all the warnings we've had from every Fed governor on the planet about the risk of higher interest rates, that people are nervous in front of tomorrow.

Charles White

If we get normal investment returns then we would expect to be able to maintain bonus rates at their current levels.

Brian Harrison

The Fed's been clear that rates are going up to control inflation. Investors are trying to see what that's going to do to the consumer.

Andy Brooks

Continued growth in the real economy will be one of the factors which is likely to push rates up.

Sanjeet Singh

We continue to be in this trading range, at the lower end right now, ... The only catalysts that can get us out of here in the next few weeks is some relief at the pump, lower oil prices and news about how much the Fed is going to raise rates.

Joseph Battipaglia

We must stop there. We have $500,000 in the sewer account and $367,000 was already taken out. This is a travesty to the public that we are raiding the sewer fund. We have raised rates from $1.75 to $4 per 1,000 gallons.

Dorothy Kelly

Japanese companies are regaining pricing power by gradually reflecting rising manufacturing and labor costs in their product prices. The Bank of Japan may raise interest rates as early as August.

Ryutaro Kono

Hiring intentions seem to have gone up a little bit and confidence is edging up. It's right to assume that the ECB will raise rates in March.

Dario Perkins

Today's economic data was really good. Right now, it looks like the Fed would raise rates in March. Some of the banks that have been suffering as of late, due to the flattening yield curve, should get some help.

Neil Massa

The government may find it difficult to bring in investment in the current scenario, so the growth impetus may need to come instead from keeping rates steady.

Vajira Premawardhana

The government's plan to cut the deficit will pay off if the economy continues to accelerate. The budget deficit next year, which would be the lowest since 1980, means there won't be pressure on rates to rise.

Saumitra Chaudhuri

The market has a very consistent forecast for a decline in interest rates and everyone is betting strongly on that. The prevailing expectation is that this may be the last chance to get into the market before rates fall, so we may see a large inflow of dollars in the short-term.

Flavio Datz

We like consumer plays. Asia has high savings rates. That becomes strong consumption power when coupled with domestic recovery.

Teresa Chow

It is hard to keep buying bonds amid the central bank's determination it will raise interest rates.

Akitsugu Bandou

Wages aren't at a level that's going to prompt the central bank to raise interest rates. We forecast the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged for the rest of the year.

Joseph Capurso

We need clear evidence that the economy is growing very strongly for the Fed to raise rates above 4.5 percent if you want to get much further gains in the dollar.

Brian Rose

That number showed the market the U.S. may not be able to lower interest rates as soon as people expected ... and that will lengthen the time before their recovery.

Francisco Andrade

I think the Fed should be booking rates up, ... It's about time.

Bob Mckee

What worries me ... (is) that they will penalize European growth through hasty increases in interest rates without any justification.

Bernard Arnault

The problem we have is that the market, having gone bearish from the end of April, has turned and made the assumption that a half-point, with maybe a quarter-point more, is it [for U.S. rates.

Matt Dennis

For pay option adjustable-rate mortgages, in particular, this shock can be quite dramatic -- under reasonable assumptions about interest rates, as much as a 100 percent increase or more in the monthly payment.

John Reich

The higher than expected catch rates combined with a run size that appears to be about 20 percent smaller than forecast have brought us to this point.

John North

No one expects interest rates to jump higher all of a sudden. They are more likely to rise slowly ... but once they do begin to creep up, it is true that will make things tougher for property firms, which borrow large amounts of money.

Tsutomu Yamada

The recovery has been fueled by lower rates, and people have been so focused on that, they're losing sight of the fact that, in a normal recovery period, interest rates should be going higher. The economy still looks strong, and that's the key.

Andy Engel

The whole market expects rates to fall further.

Tony Volpon

We find that CO2 is about 30% higher than at any time, and methane 130% higher than at any time; and the rates of increase are absolutely exceptional: for CO2, 200 times faster than at any time in the last 650,000 years.

Thomas Stocker

Damage to distribution facilities in California could be recovered in a future (increase in rates). But we don't expect to file another general rate case for some time.

Karl Walquist

Employment growth will keep the economy going and the bond market will be susceptible to the strength of the data that will push the Fed to hike rates again. We expect yields to rise.

Hidehiko Maejima

If people were aggressively concerned about falling house prices, rising interest rates, you would not expect to see a leap in consents being issued for houses.

Tony Alexander

Broaddus just reminded everyone that the Fed is going to raise rates. He is clear that the inflation data has got their attention and that the Fed is much more wary of inflation.

Dominic Konstam

This will probably be of great satisfaction to the Fed and will convince them that economic growth is on track without worrying them that interest rates are seriously too low.

Pierre Ellis

The numbers we're looking at represent phenomenal growth rates, not likely to be duplicated in any other industry.

Brian Gordon

Investors are going to look at whatever economic numbers come out and say is this additional fuel for the Fed to lower rates in March. Earnings are going to continue to come out and they're likely to be negative so you're going to have earnings weighing on the market.

Sam Stovall

As home prices level off, so will the growth of equity that has supported consumer spending in the past. The impact from higher interest rates on home equity loans and adjustable rate mortgages will combine with stubbornly high energy prices to squeeze discretionary spending.

Robert Mcgee

The high levels of industrial capacity in use could force the Fed to keep inflation in check by raising rates, boosting the dollar. The dollar was sold a bit too much this week. Now is a good buying opportunity.

Teruhisa Tsuji

Rates are still going up here, and rates are going down abroad or are beginning to ease.

Bob Doll

Markets are confident that the Fed will raise rates another 25 basis points at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The real story will be, not if the Fed raises rates, but what it says when it does it.

Ann Owen

The decline in starts shows that higher interest rates are impacting the housing market. That is a story for the bulls.

James Caron

Obviously they (investors) are going to focus on the Fed but a rate cut is priced in. The focus will be on the economy and signs that the first batch of interest rates are finally taking hold.

Peter Cardillo

Most people expect that the Fed will hike short-term rates more than the 10-year (yield) will go up this year.

Jay Bryson

This raises the chances of an easing in French and German rates before the year end.

Claudio Piron

If they're not fully drawn out, and expect money to go in and out, they keep a home equity line of credit even though rates will keep going up.

Michael Moskowitz

The greatest challenges for the New Zealand dollar stem from a lack of upside in interest rates, a concession to slowing domestic growth.

Sue Trinh

There are different mortality rates for males and females, so females get a higher sum assured.

Standard Life

There's little upside for the Australian dollar at these levels. We expect the dollar to fall over the next week or so whether there's an increase in interest rates or not.

Adam Carr

They want to keep growth rates down to about 10 percent a year. They don't want to go back to the growth rates of between 17 and 20 percent because that's where the inflationary pressure kicks in.

Richard R. Grant

The economy could slow down, and there is still uncertainty about interest rates.

Gerard Cassidy

The market is looking at other, more important things -- U.S. interest rates, corporate earnings, China's economy and so on.

Tsuyoshi Segawa

But in the short term, there's a lot of uncertainty, about terrorism, the presidential election and interest rates.

Peter Brodie

All this suggests that the ECB is in no hurry to hike interest rates. A move in February can effectively be ruled out.

Joerg Kraemer

As rates continue to rise, some local markets may see a backing off of prices and a soft landing as appreciation returns to historically normal levels.

Lee Mcpheters

My Remote is an innovative Internet phone feature that none of our competitors can match, and one that our customers are absolutely going to love. With My Remote, our customers will no longer have to memorize calling card numbers, risk using work phones for long distance calls or pay the outrageous international long distance rates that normally apply to cell phones.

Alan Creighton

We want our property tax rates lowered significantly and substantially and meaningfully. So far we have not seen anything in that direction.

Bob Grantham

The move is significant in the sense that it signals the authorities in China are now acting to reduce rates of economic growth, despite low levels of inflation.

Paul Niven

People feel the growth is there whether you push rates up to 6.50 percent or 6.80 percent.

Terrence Gabriel

Interest rates have been creeping up slowly, and we've definitely seen somewhat of a softening in home sales.

Lauren Young

The central bank has identified the triggers that will make it raise rates. We don't think those things will happen.

Annette Beacher

This program will have little or no impact on rates compared to what ratepayers would otherwise pay to support the renewable energy standard, but will greatly diversify the overall program by including distributed solar power.

Ben Luce

The Bank Negara meeting today (Jan 20) could be a key event. They may wait to hike rates but core inflation is rising and the market is demanding more monetary tightening.

Craig Chan

Yields were very important in 2005; we think they'll be important again over the early part of 2006. Over the first half of the year we think the dollar will do a little better on interest rates.

Nick Bennenbroek

Markets are still trying to firm up where rates will peak in the U.S. and Europe.

George Hodgson

This report will not change the Fed's view on the inflation outlook -- they will keep rates low for still some months to come.

Sherry Cooper

Deposits stopped growing and household money is heading increasingly to risk assets and will continue to do so as long as Japanese interest rates are zero.

Naomi Hasegawa

Interest rates will be the prevailing factor over the next couple of months. A rate hike has already been figured into valuations, but if we get an indication from the Fed that a few more rate hikes could be down the road, this rally could be very short lived.

Mark Cavallone

The bottom line for consumers is potentially billions of dollars a year in additional charges, fees, and higher interest rates and lower yields on savings.

Stephen Brobeck

The spread widening was a little muted given the move in rates.

Neela Gollapudi

Lung cancer death rates have fallen 17 percent in men from 1990 to 2002. Both incidence and death rates have leveled off in women, so we are turning the corner.

Michael Thun

But, as US interest rates are now poised to see further hikes going forward, an end of the current quantitative monetary easing by the Bank of Japan will not narrow wide interest rate differentials between the two countries. And this interest rate gap should continue to support the dollar.

Takashi Kudo

Interest rates are going up - the only question is by how much. Yields will rise further.

Alex Rohner

We could have hit-and-run moves by speculators trying to break those levels around 117.30-117.35. This meeting could be a milestone in Japanese history so it's hard to push the yen lower even if rates don't rise soon.

Tsutomu Soma

It's going to be very difficult for the ECB to raise rates if growth is looking sluggish. Even so people are looking for the ECB to act and that makes the bond market not very attractive.

Guillaume Sciard

We're seeing a definite decline in settlement rates. But we don't know how it will pan out in the fishery.

Lewis Incze

Premium increases are not the best measurement because if you are already high you don't have to raise your rates as much. And if you are low, you may have to raise them a little more.

Joe Zimmerman

We can raise rates, we can borrow more money, or we can mitigate. In the long-run, we can lower costs if we mitigate heavily in this state.

Rade Musulin

Push the Fed to raise rates, that's what I'm worried about.

Bob Mckee

The market is beginning to focus on the huge U.S. trade imbalance and there is a view that as growth picks up in Japan and interest rates go up, a lot of the money coming from Japan to the U.S. will not come as rapidly into the U.S. securities markets, ... Before Hours .

Robert Hormats

It's a combination of a lot of things dragging the market. The Bank of England left rates unchanged, the U.S. is down and so is the price of crude, ... The FTSE especially is very oil heavy.

Daniel Birch

Having the infrared data from Spitzer allows us to measure the star formation rates very accurately because we are no longer blinded by dust.

David Koo

I noticed money market rates soar, but that can be explained by month-end demand for cash.

Hugo Morales

They will be cutting (rates) until they get some signs of rebound.

James Annable

(Money managers) expect the Fed to stop raising rates before short-term rates inflict any significant damage to economic growth.

Randy Lert

Our 2004 guidance we believe is conservative, ... We cannot predict fluctuations in foreign currency and in global rates of the euro, pound and yen. This could have a significant impact, positively or negatively, on our results.

Tom Szkutak

There are a lot of features behind this market that are very favorable. Inflation news recently for August was very positive. Rates dropping have been a positive for this market and earnings still look good.

Stuart Freeman

We're all continuing to focus like a laser beam on the economy. And that means not sitting around and patting yourself on the back because unemployment and inflation rates are low.

Gene Sperling

While we know any increase in rates is difficult for our customers, we believe we have been able to keep our request comparatively low through our aggressive power supply management and efficient operations.

Christopher Dutton

Prices are rising, but not fast enough to prompt the central bank to raise interest rates. Inflation will pick up slowly toward the end of the year.

Im No Jung

If the U.S. Fed cuts rates soon, maybe in the next 72 hours, the next couple of days, the ECB will have to do the same.

Adolf Rosenstock

In general, a rising rate environment slows down growth, so most companies are not going to go as good as when rates are low.

Jay Bryson

We've had eight wonderful years of declining crime rates, and at a certain point you just can't push those numbers further down, and we've hit that point.

James Alan Fox

People were concerned that the market will start pricing in the argument that the central bank will raise interest rates to a neutral level since deflation in Japan has ended. Yields will have a bias to rise.

Naruki Nakamura

They are wrong. Just look at the numbers. Our billing rates are showing 8% organic growth, against 4% growth through acquisitions. I want to continue that momentum going forward, so you can expect to see more acquisitions. It makes good business sense, and is a good use of the cash we generate.

John Swainson

It's tricky for the European Central Bank. In places like Spain and Ireland, interest rates are clearly too low, but the ECB has to set rates for the region as a whole.

Rob Hayward

There is now an opportunity for the Bank of England to leave interest rates on hold, indicating that they have peaked and encouraging a decline in the exchange rate. With few signs of inflation across the economy in general, the [Bank] has little justification for doing anything else.

Nick Reilly

You know who's going to get hurt? It's the elderly woman who has never had a claim, never done anything wrong, and her rates are going to go up by 10 percent, and that's not right.

Juan Vargas

When a buyer goes to look at a mortgage, they want a site that will have as many rates and mortgage options as possible.

Chris Charron

The bank of Canada is operating textbook econ 101 here in hiking rates in anticipation of inflation going higher 12-16 months in the future, because we're operating at full capacity right now in Canada and it looks like we're going to continue.

John Anania

I've heard many comments from lawmakers, Democrats and others, when we're doubling or tripling those rates and some of the comments are, `Well, if (citizens) don't have the money, they shouldn't be having those homes.' I'm thinking, `You don't understand that folks scrape to get by and that insurance is not a luxury,' .

John Legg

Alamo.com will always be the best place for our customers to make a rental reservation. That's where customers will always find our guaranteed best rates, our pre-pay and save option, and the newest features that make the travel process faster and easier.

Jerry Dow

European equities are still reasonably cheap, earnings are very strong and interest rates aren't going up, so we have all the typical ingredients of a fundamental bull market for equities.

Rolf Elgeti

Rates probably need to go above 10 percent and relatively soon or the currency will keep weakening.

Richard Yetsenga

It adds a lot of uncertainty for the business environment. But for the folks who already have a house, these appreciation rates are generally good news.

Andrew Leventis

There's a problem if rates go up and there's no corresponding growth. A slowdown in earnings growth is definitely something in the back of our minds.

Sailesh Bhundia

I don't see any changes at this week's meeting. Besides, ending that policy and raising rates are completely different issues, and rates won't start rising for a while.

Hiroshi Yoshida

My guess is interest rates are going to rise. And both residential and commercial development will slow because of that.

Brian Rooney

When we raise these rates, people will use less. That's a goal we want to achieve.

Henry Thomas

He will need to compensate for the lower-than-usual long rate with higher short rates.

Kevin Harrington

Color affects catch rates and not size.

Gene Wilde

Selling mounted as we've got the Golden Week holiday coming, in addition to concerns about a rise in Chinese interest rates and the currency market coming at the same time.

Yusuke Sakai

What happened when Warner merged with Pfizer in the end of May is that you will have a much broader portfolio. You will have probably 10 different drugs growing at double-digit rates. One of the advances of this merger is to broaden the focus beyond just the two drugs.

Jeffrey Chaffkin

With our proposed rates, NIU will still be below what all the MAC schools are proposing for this current year.

Michael Stang

What that will tend to do will be to drive down accounting rates in international markets, which will tend to stimulate volume growth, and that will be a good deal for customers.

Robert Wilkes

The idea that's been gaining currency in the market is the Fed pause theory, meaning that the Fed raises rates 25 basis points in September and then, because inflation pressures are contained, they pause for a while, skipping a move in November and maybe even December. The (producer price index) data this morning kind of fed into that theory.

Josh Stiles

They've got a very favorable climate for the travel costs. Airline fares are down, room rates [are down], gasoline prices fortunately have come down, so I think it's easier for a traveler to economize in this environment.

Suzanne Cook

It is and it isn't. It is from the point of view that rates are the lowest they've ever been.

Mark Kantrowitz

I think commercial property owners are going to be very surprised by (this) increase in appraised values, particularly since in most areas, rental rates have not increased by the same percentage that the appraised values have increased.

Charles Heimsath

That should be the peak because there was a large increase in June a year ago, ... So that should imply that the rate in June in this year comes down. I think this will open the door to a reduction interest rates from the ECB.

John Shepperd

Florida is outperforming the nation, and your area is outperforming the state in terms of job-growth rates and lower unemployment rates.

Rebecca Rust

A head injury or major bleed from a motor vehicle accident must be handled within the first hour of injury or the patient has very little chance of survival. The residents of Montgomery County should not accept high death rates as a consequence of living outside Houston.

Jim Becka

Much of their future lies there, ... The high school dropout rates are all going in the right direction and are improving. They have gotten better for the second generation.

Roberto Suro

The affordability of light vehicles has been quite stable over the past ten quarters. Family incomes have been rising faster than vehicle prices, but higher interest rates have increased the cost of financing a new car.

Dana Johnson

The fall in freight rates is dragging down their bottom lines. Nonetheless, their stocks' low valuations will somehow attract investors.

Hajime Yagi

The European economy is on course for a good recovery and the ECB is likely to raise rates to 2.75 percent by year-end. The euro is looking more attractive.

Masafumi Yamamoto

These savings are a clear positive, but retiree liability cuts are likely to see some almost immediate offsets, from ongoing health care inflation, possible Delphi liability assumption and falling long-term rates.

Robert Barry

Term rates keep dropping and dropping and dropping; it's just amazing.

Jane Bryant Quinn

But against the backdrop of improvements in commodity prices, the fact the Canadian dollar has been rallying and the long end of the market had already priced it in, they thought, 'Listen, our rates should be below U.S. rates. Our inflation is lower and we're well behind in the economic cycle.'

Michael Gregory

People think prices are going to go down and the statistics keep telling us they're not. They need to buy. We have an excellent inventory, excellent interest rates. What are they waiting for?

Karen Peterson

There remains a lingering risk of higher interest rates should signs of stronger employment and inflation emerge in coming months.

Brian Redican

There's nothing to discourage the Fed from continuing to raise interest rates. We could see some more dollar buying, particularly against European currencies.

Ryan Shea

We have a very good start for the foreign exchange regime ... We also want liberalization of interest rates.

Tang Xu

I think this is a fundamental decline. Deflation is really the cause of this. Low interest rates and low inflation isn't the answer to supporting this market.

Robert Farrell

One of the ironies is that most of the other countries spend considerably less than we do on health care and many other countries have better track records on rates of mortality (and) infant mortality.

Marilyn Moon

If the investment climate has not improved sufficiently to maintain capital inflows by the time BI cuts its rates in the second half of 2006, then capital outflow will be the likely result.

Fauzi Ichsan

We have expanded our business at record rates, and we are setting ambitious hiring goals to continue that growth. We know we can find the well-qualified people we need here in Tucson.

Martha Furnas

The market needs to walk a line between too little growth and too much growth, between profits and interest rates. The jobs report tilted the market toward too little growth.

James Awad

The earnings evolution is definitely slowing in Europe. Combined with rising interest rates and an excellent performance over the last few months, we can expect the market to take a pause.

Patrick Casselman

The payrolls data resolves the big puzzle and the big worry over the U.S. outlook. It means the Fed can now consider raising rates at some stage.

Aziz Mcmahon

It's a good move. It flattens the yield curve and brings long-term rates down.

Bill Hornbarger

When numbers go up, there's always a possibility that rates are going to go up. We don't want to leave any stone unturned to prevent infant deaths.

Cheryl Fogarty

Conversion rates and average order values are going down with cross- selling.

Ken Burke

The Fed will continue to raise interest rates. We think they will do so twice more.

Kathleen Stephansen

If you get into single-digit vacancy rates, generally speaking, you see speculative development activity coming back. And it is coming back, but it's coming back slowly.

Kevin Hayes

Most banks haven't had those overseas losses. It would be hard for one bank to push up their rates if no one else is.

Bert Ely

Average numbers can sometimes be misleading. Erosion rates are highly variable and never steady.

Spencer Rogers

We haven't raised our rates since 1992. In that time, the consumer price index has increased by 53 percent; but we have kept our rates steady over that time because we have managed costs.

Caroline Allen

The onset of 2005 bodes well for the housing industry. Long-term mortgage rates are currently below six percent.

Amy Crews Cutts

The Legislature hasn't wanted to go along with it because it would push up rates.

Mark Delegal

I'm happy that we've seemed to find middle ground. To me, it doesn't really matter what the individual rates are. It's the total.

Jeff Kern

Housing activity has peaked and is coming down a bit, and we expect further cooling in the coming months. We feel confident that housing is landing softly as rates continue to rise.

David Lereah

Growth momentum remains strong and that should lead to higher inflation and interest rates.

Shuchita Mehta

I think there are a number of factors that have led (to the growth), including the low interest rates giving people the opportunity to get into the home market.

Bill King

After the Fed comes out with its rate hike, and when it communicates to the market that it's satisfied with where rates are for the time being, then we may go back to focusing on the deficits.

Ashraf Laidi

We're concerned for two reasons. There could be copycat activity (of the exchange) in other ports and countries. Also, there are clear indications already that the exchange is having an effect in the China-Far East/Europe trade lane on rates and tariffs.

Chris Welsh

Energy prices really have fallen to a distant second as far as concerns for the market. The big concern is whether the Federal Reserve is going to keep raising interest rates and, if they do, whether that's going to slow the economy too much.

Scott Wren

As long as the Fed keeps raising rates, yields are going to move higher. The Fed decision definitely left the door open for more rate hikes.

Joseph Shatz

The important fact is they're a first mover in a high-margin business that will have increased adoption rates as we move forward.

Anthony Noto

If they were to cut rates, it might endorse the view that the Fed believes inflation is not a problem. And that can be a dangerous game.

Jeff Cheah

The reality is that if the Fed raises interest rates by a quarter of a point all that's doing is serving to keep inflationary pressures under control.

John Shaughnessy

The ever-demanding needs of central government and the NHS are leading to a new tax collection approach being adopted. Chancellor Brown is, and always has been, under political pressure to increase the tax take without increasing headline rates of tax.

Scott Hallesy

Every state except Massachusetts was represented. As baby boom demographics have converged with equity refugees and low interest rates, Sun Belt communities have benefited.

James Wood

This is a business where a 1 or 2 percent change in production has a significant impact on freight rates, so this should have an effect, especially with things as tight as they are.

Jim Winchester

The drop in mortgage interest rates is offsetting higher home prices, so housing affordability conditions are remaining fairly even.

Martin Edwards

When there is a big catastrophe, rates don't go up in other parts of the country to make up for the losses. That's not how it works.

Jeanne Salvatore

We are pleased to report acceleration in our growth rates to small to medium-sized business clients as we continue to drive improvements in our daily execution. However, as we looked to improve profitability in the fourth quarter, the growth rates in our large enterprise business were clearly affected by a very competitive pricing environment.

Rich Fennessy

There's no need for the central bank to raise interest rates again.

Jarrod Kerr

All the fundamentals remain in place, and the overall housing market continues to exhibit ongoing strength. Favorable mortgage rates, as well as strong household income and job growth, continue to bolster housing demand.

David Seiders

There is no way of forecasting when exchange rates are going to move.

Tony Alexander