Talk of weak US growth
JPMorgan chief global strategist David Kelly says he is now expecting a 'nasty' first quarter US GDP report. He said it could be as weak as -1.0% (annualized).
He says that report along with soft Q1 earnings will be a shock to the system. Still, he says the global economy won't go into a freefall.
GDP will be in focus later today because the Atlanta Fed will update its GDPNow forecast. The current forecast is for +0.1% growth but that will decline after today's retail sales report.
For the last two years, first quarter growth in the United States has disappointed. Both times the Fed blamed cold and snowy weather. This winter was amongst the mildest on record.
The first reading on Q1 GDP is due April 28 but the revisions go on for months.
