This settlement creates the organizing space we need to continue the already positive membership growth we have in the Starbucks union.

If Fed Funds were expected to rise in the future, the curve would be positive with intermediate and long bonds requiring higher yields as a cushion against accelerating short rates. If the Fed were expected to lower rates, a flatter, even inverted curve might result. It's not that this academic theory has been dislodged in recent years but it may have been asked to take a seat next to the increasingly important variable of global financial flows. These flows, no doubt, rely critically on the willingness of foreign investors to hold U.S. assets in the face of potential currency and asset price depreciation.

I like the wireless content space. That is an area that is going to go through massive growth.

Our growth rate is still a multiple of any major competitor in our space, and we should continue to pull away from the industry over the next several years. Our operating expenses are declining as a percentage of sales, and we are generating cash at a rate of $4 billion annually, which adds to our investment income.

In terms of economic growth, PIMCO originated the famous phrase the 'new normal.'

For 2006, prospects for economic growth and the automotive industry are positive. Most economists are predicting growth of 3.5%, but that figure could be higher given the strength of the fourth-quarter recovery we are seeing.