Delos Smith
Delos Smith
corporate equity greed lack market people
Corporate scandals, equity market problems, a lack of transparency, a lot of greed -- it was not just the Dow falling, it was all of these things that make people very, very nervous.
bad christmas country forget material
It's a bad Christmas if you're a retailer. It's not a material Christmas. You can't forget this. I don't think the country can forget it.
ends key whether
The whole key is whether or not (a war) ends quickly.
besides companies cultural india interested political retailers ultimately understand western
Besides the political issues, retailers interested in India have to understand the cultural differences and sensitivities. Ultimately India's still a very complicated world for Western companies to understand.
based consumers fourth july needs nice salary spending starts wage
Consumers had a nice July and August. Unfortunately, they're on their own for the fourth quarter, which starts on Wednesday. Going into 2004, spending is going to be based on wage and salary growth, which needs a boost.
bad recession time
Probably Asia's diminishing a little bit. But I don't think that this suggests any kind of bad time or recession coming.
certainly consumer effect gas mean negative numbers prices retail sales seen weekly
We haven't yet seen the negative effect of gas prices on consumer spending. It's certainly not here in these numbers. That doesn't mean it's not there. Certainly the weekly retail sales numbers have been sluggish.
absolutely pressures price
There are absolutely no price pressures in our system.
certainly low mean report start takes time turning
When it's as low as it was, it takes time to start turning it around. Today's report doesn't mean there's a boom, but it certainly is encouraging.
happened last moderate shows steady
When you take a look at what's happened in the last month, you see the same kind of pace?right on down the line. It shows a nice, steady moderate pace, which is what you want.
eat expenses movies normally people theaters
We're going to see people trimming their expenses here and there. They probably will not eat out as much or go to movies as often as they normally would. So restaurants and theaters are also vulnerable.
good nervous year
We had a very good year in 2005. But it was a nervous world.
adjust consumers economic economy economy-and-economics growth mean view
We boosted economic growth in one quarter, but that doesn't mean it's sustainable. We still have a long-range view that the economy is changing, and consumers will have to adjust to it.
economic function largest longer major market state systems
There are no longer really state economic systems that can function by themselves. Most of our largest corporations are in every major market in the world. We're intertwined.