22 Quotes by Douglas Porter

Given that there are virtually no other signs that Canadian spending suddenly weakened in February, this sharp drop in imports is likely to prove to be a fluke.

I suspect there will be enough positive news in other areas to persuade consumers there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that the economy is moving to better times, but it will be a gradual process, and confidence may be flat in the next couple of months.

I think it will improve liquidity and the attractiveness of owning Canadian financial assets, although I don't see it as a watershed event for Canadian financial markets.

Manufacturing posted a solid rebound in December from weakness the prior month, but it is far from out of the woods.

While the economic data have been all over the place in recent weeks, there are no obvious signs that the economy is cracking in the face of record energy prices. Indeed, the export and production data have been surprisingly perky.

Usually the incentives and the ways builders are allowed to design subdivisions to allow for extra densities sooner or later reduces that cost by a lot.

While it's a bit of a surprise, the slightly downbeat news on confidence can be explained by the ongoing weakness in employment, and perhaps consumers are a little concerned about the backup in mortgage rates. But while they're becoming less confident, they're still buying -- the latest sales numbers still look good.

The results likely fully please almost no one.

These solid results suggest that the economy actually had a fair bit of momentum heading into 2003.