Friday’s key economic report was the first revision to fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). The Commerce Department’s numbers were expected to be revised down, and they were revised slightly more than expected. GDP for the quarter slipped to 2.4% in this first revision from an original reading of 3.2%. Another reading was the price index, which remained at 1.3%.
Bloomberg was calling for headline GDP to come in at 2.5% and the price index to be flat at 1.3%. Dow Jones had the headline GDP estimate at 2.4% for this revision.
Before getting too hung up on this report, remember that this is a fourth-quarter number for 2013, and we are already two-thirds of the way through the first quarter of 2014. We also have seen just about every major corporate earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2014 as well, and the S&P 500 just hit new highs.
While it was a revision, this only highlights the more recent weak readings in spending, sentiment, factory orders and other economic indicators. Stocks were weak ahead of this report, and they remain marginally in the red — S&P 500 futures were down 1.25 points and the DJIA futures are down almost 10 points.
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