Economic activity flattened out at the end of the summer, suggesting that the nascent recovery may have already been aborted.

Housing activity remains quite robust despite the slowing economy, decline in jobs, and faltering stock market.

Housing-related activity has definitely slowed and its contributions to economic growth, both direct and indirect, will fade over the next couple of quarters.

With last week's Fed tightening, mortgage rates have continued to rise, so that further declines in housing activity are likely over the balance of the year. Nevertheless, robust labor markets and rising incomes have helped sustain housing at a relatively high level.

The Committee is placing more weight on current data releases and, therefore, less weight on forecasts of economic activity and inflation. What I'm foreseeing is that the Fed is going to keep on tightening due to the economy being stronger in the first half of the year.

The deterioration in economic activity would argue for a more aggressive move, but the Fed has rarely moved by more than (half a point) during Greenspan's tenure,

The sharp slowing in domestic demand has dramatically reduced imports. Weakening economic activity in our major trading partners has significantly reduced the foreign demand for American-made products.

These data suggest that a bottoming in economic activity is taking place, but that a bit more inventory adjustment is needed to insure a re-acceleration in growth.

These data suggest that a bottoming in economic activity is taking place, but a bit more inventory adjustment is needed to insure a re-acceleration in growth,