Karim writes:
Brief and delayed recap:
Looks like Goldilocks is officially here. 4% GDP gwth and 0% core inflation.
Agreed, remains a good market for stocks apart from looming shocks from Europe and elsewhere that could do a lot of damage.
Tax hikes can do damage but they are off in the future for now.
I describe 4% gdp as more L shaped than V shaped, but that’s just semantics. It’s modest growth that will very gradually bring down unemployment.
In the end, growth will be important to the Fed as it leads inflation. Look for Bernanke to continue to tweak extended period language today.
- Retail sales up 1.6% with upward revisions to Jan and Feb
- Control group up 0.5% and 3mth annualized rate for control group jumped to 7.4% from 5.2%
- Looks like 4% GDP growth in Q1
- Core CPI up 0.05%; helped largely by another 0.1% drop in OER
- 3mth annualized rate of core inflation now -0.1%