Clearly the economy had a good head of steam on it right through the hurricane period.

The economy is generally slowing for a wide variety of reasons -- energy is one, but also the stimulus is wearing off.

If the economy is growing, companies' earnings are growing and that moves the market.

An economy that was clearly bad has gone to worse after those (Sept. 11) tragedies took place,

The U.S. economy is performing so admirably right now, it is hard to believe how good it is. We have strong growth, declining inflation, strong profits, rising real wages. All of these things are happening at the same time and there is no sign that any of this is about to end.

This could mark a turning point. After all, the Fed was right, the latest slowdown was temporary and the economy is about to gain speed going into the second half of 2005, which would imply that more rate hikes lie ahead.