All Things in Moderation

Vital Statistics:

Stocks are flattish as we end the month of April. Bonds and MBS are flat.

We have a decent amount of data this week, along with a Fed meeting. The biggest news will be the jobs report on Friday, although we will get income / spending data and the ISM.

Q1 GDP came in at a much higher than expected 3.2% versus the 2.3% growth that was expected. Even better, the inflation rate came in much lower than expected, which should mean the Fed is out of the way. The 10 year bond yield traded below 2.5% for the first time in 2 months, despite having the strongest Q1 growth in 4 years. Note that consumption didn’t drive the increase in growth (it only came in at 1.2%) – the growth was driven by exports  – which at a minimum should end the talking point that Trump’s trade wars are alienating our trading partners.

The immediate market reaction was subdued. The 10 year bond yield drifted lower, stocks were flat, and the Fed Funds futures didn’t change all that much – still predicting a 1/3 chance of no moves this year and a 2/3 chance of a rate cut.

In terms of the individual components, the trade numbers were affected by both an increase in exports (3.7%) and a drop in imports (-3.7%). Durable goods consumption fell 5.3%, which is probably related. Residential continues to be a persistent weak spot (-2.8%), and a bit of a head-scratcher given the sheer lack of inventory. Increased investment was driven by an increase in intellectual property (8.6%), which offset a decrease in building (-0.8%).

Housing’s contribution to GDP has been shrinking since the late 80s. The financial crisis caused it to fall from about 18% to 15%, and in the past decade it has been more or less stuck there. It looks like housing is again beginning to decline as a percent of GDP, and it is now below 15%. If housing can get back to at least normalcy, that should provide a good bump for GDP growth.

Personal Incomes rose 0.1% in March, which was below expectations. Consumption surprised to the upside. Inflation remains tame, with the headline PCE number up .1% MOM / 1.5% YOY and the core up 0.2% / 1.6% YOY.

New FHFA Director Mark Calabria has an ambitious agenda for housing reform, including solving problems with servicing, fixing the QM patch, and eventually releasing the GSEs from conservatorship. He is emphatic that he does not want to see the mortgage market return to the pre-2008 days.

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