To: Lee who wrote (121354 ) 4/30/1999 9:29:00 AM From: Mohan Marette Read Replies (1) | Respond to
US.Economy Instant View--->MICHAEL FRANZESE. TRADER, ZIONS BANK: In the bond market, ''We were hoping for something more like 3.3 or 3.6 percent ... Everybody has a bearish tone. Everybody thinks the Fed has to do something.'' KATHRYN KOBE, SENIOR ECONOMIST, JOEL POPKIN AND CO.: ''These numbers are stronger than the bond market anticipated. We are seeing very strong consumer demand and a little more inflation. Will this be enough to induce the (U.S. Federal Reserve) to raise interest rates now? I don't think so. But the concern is this rate of growth will leave us vulnerable to more inflation later on.'' HENRY WILLMORE, SENIOR ECONOMIST, BARCLAYS CAPITAL: ''What's impressive is how strong domestic demand continues to be. The Fed has to be worried about it. It's very likely that net export numbers will stabilize later this year. As those improve, there's a risk you could see overall growth in the four to five percent range. From such a high level of consumer spending, you can expect some slowing. But I suspect the offset from net exports will be such that even with consumer spending slowing slightly, we'll still see strong growth. The way the stock market is going up, it's not going to slow by a lot.'' KATHY CAMILLI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, TUCKER ANTHONY: "You have to admit, it's impressive. The last time we had growth rates of this magnitude back-to-back was in the '60s. DAVID LEVY, VICE CHAIRMAN AND DIRECTOR OF FORECASTING, JEROME LEVY ECONOMICS INSTITUTE AT BARD COLLEGE: "Inventory stronger than we might have expected, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's revised lower in next month's data. The most notable feature was a tremendous surge in consumer spending. Business investment was not as powerful as we've seen and we think that's going to be the trend. The one big negative in 1999 will be the widening trade deficit.
