Paper Outlook — Another Notch in the Market's Belt

Paparozzi agrees and does not predict price moderation for at least a year. "I doubt that it is going to happen this year. It's very clear that Alan Greenspan is determined to slow the economy. He feels it's growing too fast. He wants to do it very gradually, and it may take him a year to do it."

However, the silver lining is that paper, although somewhat tighter than last year, still appears to be available. It is this availability factor that has kept printers from speculative buying, Paparozzi discloses. "I doubt that a real lot of speculative hoarding is going on. A majority of our survey respondents report that paper is still available. Until that number comes down significantly, I wouldn't expect to see speculative buying," he says.