Today's trade report could take a significant
chunk off Q1 GDP. It looks like
real exports in Q1 will only grow by roughly 5%
annualized, while imports are
set to boom by 15%. This suggests a net trade drag
of 1.6ppts in Q1 after a
drag of 1.4ppts in Q4. We were looking at 3.4% Q1
GDP, but this report shaves
off 0.7ppts from our earlier estimate, taking us
down to just 2.7% - the very
low end of consensus. This still assumes decent
3.5% consumption growth and 11%
business investment growth.