17 Quotes by Kurt Karl

My view on inflation is we'll continue to get reports like this, and the biggest numbers we'll get are 0.1s and 0.2s, ... U.S. consumers just turn it off when they see the prices go up, as happened last month with cars, so it's going to be hard for retailers to sustain any major price increases.

It doesn't look like a very bad report to me.

We have a housing valuation issue. The time is now for raising interest rates and defusing these problems potentially by slowing down the economy a bit and avoiding a big necessary increase later and a consequential recession.

We had expected a rebound. Gasoline prices are down a lot, so that is good news, but they are still very high and that may be what is weighing on people's minds at this point.

We don't know the exact cause or reason, but it's certainly clear when you look at the worst-ever catastrophic event, which it looks like Katrina will be, we're in a different world, and it's a much more risky world for catastrophic events.

The death of the housing market is greatly exaggerated. Home sales will come off but just a bit.

We improved in May, but it looked too good, so we may have some payback and that could move the market. The possibility of a record deficit would be a shock. It's a negative risk for the equity market.

Oil prices are higher and there's a constraint on the consumer because of that. You've also got rising interest rates and a slowing housing market.

This is O.K. news on inflation. There is no major worry here. No components are rising rapidly.