20 Quotes by Rob Palombi

Because of the gridlock, politicians on both sides of the political spectrum will have to be more acutely aware of what the voting public is leaning towards.

Gridlock leads to more debt reduction than either tax cuts or new spending. Because what we will be left with at the end of the day are larger surpluses.

Greenspan's objective is to keep the U.S. economy expanding for as long a stretch as possible. That's why he's being so prudent in his speeches and that's why he'll adjust monetary policy to allow for that.

What's important to keep in mind is that we really only have one month of numbers that confirm the economy is slowing. What the markets want to see is more evidence of a slowdown, which is why this report is important.

What the Fed may do right now is prepare the market for a switch to a tightening policy from a neutral policy, and that may happen as soon as this month. There's always been the expectation that the economy would slow and ease labor market conditions, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

There's still a lot of consumer demand out there, and as businesses try to restock their inventory levels they will increase demand, which will lead to stronger growth. That could be problematic for the Fed.

There's still a chance of a rate hike, you can never officially rule that out, but for the moment it appears the worst-case scenario will be an announcement of a tightening bias. I don't see that happening, but that would be the worst-case scenario.

Now I think that perception is much, much different.

Despite the weakness of the past two months, the general underlying trend for the economy is still higher. The data still point to strength in the manufacturing sector, and upcoming orders appear strong.