Weekly Market Commentary 03/24/2016

It still looks like the economy will stage a respectable rebound from the fourth-quarter’s tepid showing. But some key cyclical drivers are sputtering, and their erratic behavior is likely to sap some of the strength from the first-quarter’s growth rate. Make no mistake; the consumer is still the critical cylinder that will determine how fast the economy’s engine revs up. By all accounts, households are continuing to provide decent support, maintaining a good deal of enthusiasm for autos and SUVs while upping outlays for most other items that enter into the GDP accounts. We will have more detail on the strength and breadth of consumer purchases for February in next week’s personal income and consumption report.