Weekly Market Commentary 10/28/2016

After growing by less than a 2% pace for three consecutive quarters, the economy finally delivered a decent growth rate in the third quarter – at least by the standards of the current recovery, now in its eighth year. On Friday, the government reported that real gross domestic product increased by an annual rate of 2.9% during the period, the strongest since the third quarter of 2014 and comfortably ahead of the 2.1% average quarterly rate of the expansion. To be sure, the preliminary estimate is the first of three readings that will be unveiled in coming months, and the final outcome could look much different than Friday’s report. That said, the initial estimate handily beat the consensus forecast of a 2.5% growth rate, unlike the previous two quarters that came in far below expectations.