According to the advance estimate released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell in the first quarter at an annualized rate of 0.3%. That's below the consensus forecast for growth of 0.4% and 2.4% growth in the fourth quarter. Our estimate was for an increase of 1.4%. Imports increased a whopping 41.3% as companies made purchases of goods (up 50.9%) in advance of the expected imposition of tariffs. Net exports of goods and services, which we often call the trade balance, reduced 1Q GDP by 4.83 percentage points. Companies certainly appear to have stockpiled goods. Inventories contributed 2.25 points to GDP. Private investment surged 21.9%, led by information processing equipment. Spending by consumers rose 1.8%, but that was a significant deceleration from the 4.0% increase in 4Q. Consumer spending on goods rose 0.5%. Within goods, durables were down 3.4%, after a 12.4% jump in 4Q. Nondurables were up 2.7%. The huge services category was up 2.4% after a 3.0% increase in 4Q. This "steady Eddie" category added 1.1 points of growth and may be an important line of defense against further GDP contraction as imports should moderate. Government consumption and investment declined 1.4%. The federal government was down 5.1% with national defense lower by 8.0%. Nondefense was down 1.0%, State and local government was up 0.8% after 2.5% growth in 4Q. The report also contains data on inflation, which unfortunately accelerated in 1Q. The PCE Price Index increased 3.6% in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Excluding food and energy, the index increased 3.5%, compared with an increase of 2.6% in the previous quarter. After the report, futures on the S&P 500 pulled back 1.9%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was up to 4.18%. Based on futures trading, the probability that the funds target will remain unchanged at next week's meeting remained at 92%. Expectations for a June cut were little changed, at 65%.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.