Delos Smith
Delos Smith
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.
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.
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.
build higher housing people starts
Housing starts would be much much higher if they could find the people to build the homes.
coming grass kinds nice
I see robins and the grass coming up and all kinds of nice signs. But it has to be proven.
business fingers leaks
I've been in the business 40 years...almost 40 years. I can tell you the leaks in 40 years and I won't even use all the fingers on one hand.
ends key whether
The whole key is whether or not (a war) ends quickly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
extremely june numbers weakness weather
June numbers were extremely strong, which suggests May's weakness really was the weather -- that it was not just an excuse.
The PPI is just perfect. This is just what we wanted.
absolutely pressures price
There are absolutely no price pressures in our system.