Weekly Market Commentary 04/20/2018

The financial markets enjoyed a welcome respite from disruptive news out of Washington or on the geopolitical front this week, allowing the economy to take center stage with a busy calendar of reports. On balance, there were few surprises that would cause the consensus narrative to change. The economy under-performed in the first quarter, although the period ended on a positive note. Data for March on retail sales, housing and production all came in slightly above expectations, but not enough to lift growth above the 1.5% annual rate indicated by earlier data. The good news is that the upbeat March data confirms that the economy ended the period with momentum, setting the stage for a solid rebound in the second quarter. We are looking for growth to accelerate to around a 3.5% pace during the period.