Hilary Cook Quotations

There are genuine concerns about economic growth globally, and there's earnings pressure from a lot of places.

There is a lot more competition. You will see more discounting. Retailers have to accept lower margins.

Given the low rating of the shares, we would hope they would be buying them and indeed they are,

It is ironic because lower raw material prices and particularly lower oil costs is pretty good news for the global economy, but not very good news for the indices when so many of the companies are making such a big proportion of their profits from them.

To its huge credit, GUS has moved from being a rag-tag of businesses with a reliance on a declining home shopping market to a very focused retail group.

BPB may have a valid point and they may be able to get a higher bid. The chances are they'll talk to each other and come up with a price. The fit is clear.

There's renewed confidence - companies are feeling happy, they are feeling pretty good about life. They are saying we don't need this money for a rainy day: we can buy extra growth.

There's relief (in the market), coupled with some good corporate news from GM. Certainly the U.S. durable goods data today is very important. Oil prices are steady and that helps too.

The shares had enjoyed an extraordinary debut, much better than we expected, but they are very vulnerable to any disappointment, ... The City never likes nasty surprises and this is a difficult business model to predict.

Companies are feeling prepared to buy. We'll see more announcements coming through. It's a good thing for stocks.

Any deal will be looked at closely, but on the other hand, BAA is bidding to run other people's airports, so why can't the reverse be true?

The big surprise has been that the inevitable hit to the U.S. economy from the hurricane hasn't hit the market yet -- this market doesn't want to lie down.

You would not have expected that the stock markets would be so high, given where the oil price went.

There isn't a lot of forward momentum. The market ran a bit too far, too fast last year.

It's a very, very big mouthful for private equity. It would have to be the biggest deal ever by a long way.

It looks like a strategically good move. These are property and cash-flow assets, and that's why they are worth so much money.

It's been an extraordinary start to the year for European stock markets.

In these competitive markets and with Wal-Mart breathing down your neck, it's all about grabbing the opportunity to expand in regions where you've got critical mass. It's better to be successful in a few countries and leave it at that than be in every country and be struggling.

Cisco, one of the bellwethers, is going to be out after the close, ... that will be a good indication of corporate health.

The end game is to sell out to GM, ... There are too many players trying to win customers in the mid-sized market.

All this mergers and acquisitions activity is quite extraordinary.

The global economy is still pretty good. U.S. unemployment down to 4.7 percent is very good. China's still looking bubbly. Unless it goes very pear-shaped on the global front, it doesn't look too bad.

All the retailers have been spreading themselves too thinly abroad and now it's time for them to refocus on the areas where they're doing well.

All the retailers have been spreading themselves too thinly abroad, and now it's time for them to refocus on the areas where they're doing well.

The markets have been so strong that the only thing that will really get them going forward is M&A activity.

The market's gone far enough for the moment, and in comes the profit-taking.