The Q1 2026 GDP advance estimate prints at 2.0% on three non-repeatable tailwinds — a federal payroll rebound, a tariff-driven inventory surge, and an AI capex pulse accounting for up to 79% of the print on a gross basis. Strip those out and the underlying pace is closer to the high-1s. Core PCE jumped 160 basis points in a single quarter to 4.3%. The Fed cannot cut into 4% inflation and cannot hike into a slowing consumer. The policy trap is set.
MIB: S&P 500 All-Time High on Earnings Strength as GDP Miss, Oil Blockade, and No-Cut Odds Dominate
Trump’s Hormuz blockade sent Brent to $126 intraday (settling $114); US gasoline hits $4.30/gallon, threatening $190B in annualized spending losses. S&P 500 set record 7,209 — best April since 2020 — as GOOGL, CAT, and LLY each surged ~10% on earnings beats while META fell -8.65% on $145B AI capex without ROI clarity. Q1 GDP +2.0% (slight miss), PCE 3.5%, ECI +0.9% — markets price 77% odds of no Fed cuts in 2026; Warsh clears Senate Banking 13-11, confirmation due May 11.
ECONOMY: The Recession Warning With an Asterisk
For over 2 years now, our commentary has made the point that the labor market – more particularly Payroll Employment and the Employment Level household surveys – were the “last man standing” in a sea of negative or weak leading data. For this reason, the NBER coincident models (all 3 of them) were not confirming recession. However the latest Friday BLS downward revisions, on top of countless before them, are becoming the straw that could break the camels’ back. The […]
Number of countries with back-to-back negative quarterly GDP prints is rising
The percentage of 41 OECD countries around the globe that have just posted a negative 1Q2016 on the back of a negative 4Q2015 (old fashion technical recession) has started to rise. Its nothing to be concerned about just yet but the rise itself, although shallow, is something worth watching as 2Q2016 numbers start coming out.
