“If things start to go really badly in Iraq, and we have a long conflict and have to destroy a lot of infrastructure, that would be very dollar negative because we will get stuck holding a lot of the tab for that, at a time when we have budget deficits going out as far as the eye can see.”
“Although little should be made of one month's data, the smaller pace of import decline in November is consistent with other recent data that suggest that U.S. economic activity may be stabilizing.”
“This decline in exports is consistent with other data indicating that economic activity in most foreign countries remained weak at the start of the year.”
“Although the [Fed] likely will remain on hold next Tuesday, the ongoing strength of the U.S. economy, which today's data corroborate, may force it into action at a later date.”
“The real surprise is the strength in exports. These sharp increases in computer-related exports corroborate recent U.S. industrial-production data that show marked strength in high-tech industries.”
