Macro: Americas Tough US Economics  The topline number looked good:  US Q1 GDP growth was further revised up to +1.4% from +1.2% annualized on quite better consumer spending while the Q2 forecast trend by the Atlanta Federal Reserve slipped lower to below 3%.  Lower pending home sales missed by being…

OPEC Oil Production Higher.  If there is one takeaway from the oil market, OPEC oil output in June increased by about 280,000 bpd per Reuters – and total production can be seen in the graph to the right (including June’s estimate).  Libya and Nigeria are on track to increase oil…

Macro: Americas US Q1 GDP growth was revised up to +1.2% from +0.7% annualized (due to higher business investment and consumer spending) and the Q2 forecast has held in the high 3% range for most of the quarter by the Atlanta Federal Reserve, setting the expectation for a decent 2017. …

Macro: Americas The US economy disappointed in Q1 2017 by growing only +0.7% at an annualized rate.  Q1 has been disappointing over the last five years, with growth an average of +1% versus +2.5% for the other quarters.  One can see that on the WSJ graph to the right (Q1s…