"It's still payback from tax reform," said Edward J. Sullivan, an analyst with Chase Econometrics.

Prior to founding Economy.com, Zandi was a regional economist at Chase Econometrics.

"I'm beginning to think we are looking at some fundamental weakness in the market," said Edward J. Sullivan of Chase Econometrics.

"The sales improvement is a combination of the incentives already offered and tax reform losing its effect," said Edward J. Sullivan, an analyst with Chase Econometrics.

"A 5.1 million annual rate was a little lower than I was expecting," said Edward J. Sullivan of Chase Econometrics.

"It's clearly a sign that we're back into a higher inflation mode - and it's not just temporary," said John Hagens, an economist at Chase Econometrics.

"You'll also start to see increases in domestic goods prices," said Lawrence Chimerine, chairman of Chase Econometrics, an economic forecasting concern.

According to industry experts, who asked not to be identified, McGraw-Hill was willing to pay $5 million to acquire Chase Econometrics.

Wharton, which recently merged with Chase Econometrics, expects this sort of focused consulting to produce most of its revenue growth in the next few years.

"If the dollar falls another 10 percent, that's going to be bad news for the stock market," said Paul Getman, an economist at Chase Econometrics.