When interpretting compiler errors, it's often the first error message displayed that refers to the real culprit. In your case, the frist error message is complaining about in illegal start of an expression where your code reads
public String panel inside of a method.
Note that the public keyword is used to modify the accessibility of a class member, or of an instance member, or of a constructor. If a variable is declared inside of a method, then that variable only exists inside of that method and is only accessible inside of that method. So, it isn't necessary, nor does it make sense, to modify the accessibility of a variable inside of a method. In other words, remove the keyword
public from that line.
After fixing that compiler error, you'll be greeted by another - <identifier> expected on that last line of code which reads
cmdQuote.addActionListener(alarmListener); Java doesn't allow you to just call methods from code that is outside of a code block. (Here I'm considering code that defines class members and instance members to be outside of a code block.) You could take this line of code and put it in the constructor of QuoteLayout, but of course then the compiler will complain about not knowing what cmdQuote is. cmdQuote is something that you've defined in a different class. Perhaps you actually wanted to add the action listener to cmdQuote from the other class.
How's it going?