The financial environment, ... is significantly different than it was in 1999, when interest rates were higher, and property values in Manhattan have increased substantially over that time.

I am pleased to report another year of record earnings. We have been challenged with a difficult interest rate environment over the last few years; however, we continue to produce shareholder value by remaining disciplined on executing our business plan. During this difficult operating environment, we focused intensely on preserving shareholder equity by not stretching for profits through strategies that are bets on interest rates, which later are unwound at a great cost of capital.

We like Carlisle a great deal, ... We think with the lowering interest rate environment it should do very well.

We agree with the consensus out there about the interest rate environment, and we are taking steps to react to that by working harder on the deposit side,

Coming off a fairly steady rate environment in 2004, these are very modest interest rate increases for the level of economic growth we are expecting.

In a low-yield environment, there was a lot of interest in high-yield markets such as the Icelandic. But with yields on the rise in Europe and the U.S., we want to see a lot more quality before we feel comfortable investing, as high yields alone are no longer enough.