“In these competitive markets and with Wal-Mart breathing down your neck, it's all about grabbing the opportunity to expand in regions where you've got critical mass. It's better to be successful in a few countries and leave it at that than be in every country and be struggling.”
“There's renewed confidence - companies are feeling happy, they are feeling pretty good about life. They are saying we don't need this money for a rainy day: we can buy extra growth.”
“The shares had enjoyed an extraordinary debut, much better than we expected, but they are very vulnerable to any disappointment, ... The City never likes nasty surprises and this is a difficult business model to predict.”
“There's relief (in the market), coupled with some good corporate news from GM. Certainly the U.S. durable goods data today is very important. Oil prices are steady and that helps too.”
“Oil is uncomfortably high; it is inflationary, ... If you are struggling a bit on the continent, as Germany is, you really do not want high input prices.”
“The big surprise has been that the inevitable hit to the U.S. economy from the hurricane hasn't hit the market yet -- this market doesn't want to lie down.”
