Detroit News Chrysler's car plans in question
Doubts prompted by reports of Nissan and Chrysler in talks to produce midsize car
Eric Morath / The Detroit News
08 Aug 08
"Down the road, Chrysler could become a company that produces trucks and minivans and then largely sells others' cars," said Aaron Bragman, auto analyst at Global Insight Inc.
Sharing costs with Nissan could allow Chrysler to keep pace on comfort, quality and other attributes that consumers demand, Bragman said.
With no known plans for a Dodge Caliber replacement, it's possible Chrysler could turn to Nissan or a Chinese or European partner in the compact segment as well, Bragman said.
Financial Times (UK) Growth fears force ECB to stay hand
By Gerrit Wiesmann
08 Aug 08
Under these conditions "we expect the ECB to keep interest rates at 4.25 per cent through the rest of 2008 and then [to] cut them gradually in 2009 to a low of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter", said Howard Archer at Global Insight.
Forbes (US) Blast Fails To Put Oil On Boil
By Lionel Laurent
08 Aug 08
Global Insight analyst Matthew Hall told Forbes.com that it was surprising to see such a limited price rise after a significant supply disruption in a geopolitically sensitive part of the world. "Potentially, it's a matter of people waiting for further information," he said, "but obviously in recent weeks we've seen a general weakening as demand has knocked off."
Les Echos (France) Inquiète pour la croissance, la BCE maintient sa priorité à la lutte contre l'inflation
BY Ingrid Francois
08 Aug 08
"Nous nous attendons à ce que la croissance plus faible en zone euro, les tensions plus faibles sur le marché du travail, le resserrement des conditions de crédit et l'euro fort réduisent les pressions inflationnistes. En conséquence, la BCE devrait baisser ses taux graduellement l'an prochain jusqu'à 3,5 % ", indique Howard Archer du cabinet Global Insight.
Peninsula (Qatar) Euro dives, then rallies on Trichet comments
08 Aug 08
“We believe the Bank of England really had little option to keep interest rates at 5.00,” said Global Insight economist Howard Archer.
“The ever growing likelihood of recession calls for lower interest rates, yet this is precluded by elevated inflation levels and risks.”
Philadelphia Inquirer Pending home sales rise in June but stay below year-ago
By ALAN J. HEAVENS
08 Aug 08
Global Insight housing economist Patrick Newport said he believes the sales slide that began in 2007 will resume later this year.
"Sales have leveled off recently, because banks have been slashing prices on foreclosed homes," he said. "This will continue, since foreclosures are still rising."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Is the Fed's do-nothing way a good thing, or a bad one?
By David Nicklaus
08 Aug 08
Nor do we need to worry about a classic wage-price spiral. "If you look at measures of wage and salary costs, there's no current evidence whatsoever to support the notion that there's an inflation problem," says Brian Bethune, U.S. financial economist at Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.
"What you're dealing with is a price level adjustment" based on a one-time rise in oil prices, he said. "Once that process stops, inflation should go back to normal."
Bethune thinks the Fed won't be raising rates until "well into 2009," and that's increasingly the view of other people in the financial markets. As recently as mid-June, traders were betting that the Fed would raise rates three times during 2008.
USA Today European banks leave interest rates unchanged
Associated Press
08 Aug 08
"Mr. Trichet repeatedly stated that the ECB had expected a growth slowdown in the second quarter and that this was in part a correction to the strong growth in the first quarter," said Howard Archer, an economist with Global Insight in London.
"Nevertheless, the ECB also accepted that the recent slowdown 'partly reflects a weakening in GDP growth,"' he said.
Archer said that while the ECB acknowledged that higher employment across the euro zone is supportive for household disposable income and consumption, it's unlikely to fully compensate for the loss of purchasing power caused by the higher energy and food prices.
"We believe that 4.25% will mark the peak in euro zone interest rates although any cut is extremely unlikely to occur until 2009, Archer said.
AFP (France) Bank of England keeps key interest rate at five percent
07 Aug 08
"We believe the Bank of England really had little option to keep interest rates at 5.00," said Global Insight economist Howard Archer.
"The ever growing likelihood of recession calls for lower interest rates, yet this is precluded by elevated inflation levels and risks."
BBC (UK) Rates dilemma for Bank of England
07 Aug 08
"It is not inconceivable that rates could be either raised or - less likely - cut," said Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight.
(...)
"The three-way split in the MPC's voting in July encapsulates the predicament that the Bank is in over a deepening and widening economic slowdown, yet elevated and still rising inflation," Mr Archer added.
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