Each one-dollar change in oil prices has a $7 billion per year impact on consumer spending. So the gain in oil prices recently, from $25 a barrel to $37, is an enormous influence on the economy -- $84 billion, in other words.
What we're seeing is an increase in the manufacturing sector, ... The manufacturing sector has been very weak for the last year and a half -- since the Asian (financial) crisis. Now, that sector seems to be recovering.
I've been calling for the bond yield since the beginning of the year to get toward 6 percent,
The economy is less interest-rate sensitive than it was a year ago because of income growth, and we have corporate profits higher than capital spending -- a condition only seen rarely in the past 40 years -- meaning companies don't need to borrow as much,