Delos Smith
Delos Smith
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.
creating hard nervous people relaxed
This is a very nervous country. How much it's going to dampen the economy, I don't know, but it's hard to see people relaxed and creating a boom.
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.
biggest empty market people
It's the biggest market we have, because people don't live in empty houses.
cash hard looks nice perfect perspective register seeing shopping start until
It looks like a nice start but it's hard to tell, hard to have a perspective until we start seeing the cash register receipts. It's hard to tell, but it's perfect shopping weather.
aware relief
They're getting nervous. They're getting angry. They have not really done anything about it because they want to see if there's going to be relief for it. But now they're aware of it.
average cents current effect felt gallon higher level price prices year
The current average price of $1.90 a gallon is still about 40 cents higher than the level a year ago. So the effect of higher prices will be felt for some time.
below economy full nervous plays surface
The uncertainty is there. It's dissipated, but it's just below the surface and can be rekindled. It plays a part in an economy full of very nervous people.
consumer drop five percent perhaps retailers season stimulus tax
The five percent drop is shocking. It indicates that perhaps the consumer tax rebate stimulus that benefited retailers during the back-to-school season has petered out.
consumers economy eye front gas generally global happening jobs keeping prices remain terms
The economy is generally chugging along. From the consumers' perspective, jobs remain an important issue. Consumers will also be keeping an eye on gas prices and what happening on the global front in terms of terrorism.
future waiting watch water
The economy's long-range future is excellent, and we have a lot of things going for us. But we're waiting for the water to boil, and you can get very flustered if you watch water boil.
drained market share
The consumer, I think, is healing. There's still a lot of market share out there. I don't think we've drained anything away.
The PPI is just perfect. This is just what we wanted.