Dana Johnson Interest Quotations

The affordability of light vehicles has been quite stable over the past ten quarters. Family incomes have been rising faster than vehicle prices, but higher interest rates have increased the cost of financing a new car.

Affordability has deteriorated over the past year because consumers are buying more expensive cars, financing a larger portion of those purchases and paying higher interest rates on car loans.

I expected our index to tick lower in March, as the effects from the Super Bowl and mild winter weather faded. Looking ahead, our index probably will settle into a lower range, as the local economy struggles to overcome restructuring in the auto sector, higher interest rates, and elevated gasoline prices.

They view it that that is more likely to keep the overall economy performing in a relatively smooth way so that the seasonality - if there is any - in credit demands doesn't cause large swings in interest rates, which in turn cause activity to turn on and turn off in an erratic way.

I don't think one 50 basis point move (by the Fed) is likely to be enough. It's going to be very hard for the stock market to move ahead. Profit margins are not going to be expanding. There's going to be nothing to offset the higher interest rates.

I think the concern that was motivating the Fed (to lower interest rates ) is that it's going to shift to more Western hemisphere trade partners. I think the risk is it's going to broaden and deepen.