26 Quotes by William Dunkelberg

We're going to rein it in. Caution should be the watchword.

Main Street optimism has backed down from the mountain top and is resting on a high plateau. The general view is that things have been going well for so long, they're bound to ease back a bit. Small-business owners aren't painting a doom-and-gloom scenario here. They just sense that the red-hot economy will cool by a degree or two.

Shopping action must have been heavy, as the frequency of reported sales gains jumped way up in November, to the third-highest level in all of '98.

Capital spending (actual and planned) got healthier and one in five owners views the current period as a good time to expand, strong for this period in the cycle.

Barring a crippling auto industry strike or some other major event unforeseen in May, the latest survey readings indicate a growth rate of about 3 percent during the next six months,

Historically, except for the dot-com hiring binge, this is a very solid number.

Katrina does put a wrinkle in the outlook. But the survey data indicate strong third and fourth quarters.

I won't say 'deflation,' but price paring was widespread. It reached far beyond manufacturing and agriculture.

It does not get much better (except in the crazy dot.com years).