USD

Strong Tax Day Collections - From MNI FX Bullets

12:26 04/20
US VIEW: Strategas Research notes that "Tax Day tax collections
were very strong, with tax revenues after the first 12 business days in
April up 14.8% over last year, despite the payroll tax cut." Higher tax
collections may "buy a week or 2 more on the debt limit," the report
says. However, if federal tax collections are up, state governments will
likely also see increased revenue. "And since states have cut spending
(unlike the federal government), the revenue will boost state balance
sheets," the report says. Strategas maintains that this effect is likely
to be "very strong in CA, NY, NJ and CT in particular."


Ashraf

Another Goldman Sachs downgrades of US Q1 GDP..this time to 1.75%

By MNI FX Bullets

US OUTLOOK: Goldman says Q1 GDP consensus "have moved down sharply" and
are now about +2% -- their own forecast is +1.75%. "Fortunately, other
measures of US growth - such as our Current Activity Indicator (CAI) -
continue to look quite strong. Also, our analysis indicates that current
GDP growth is not a very good predictor of next quarter's GDP growth,
once we take into account other information. We therefore remain
comfortable that growth will reaccelerate in Q2."

Ashraf

US EXISTING HOME SALES at 10 EST head off todays US macro calendar, expected to rise back above the 5M mark. Note that this is the least price-sensitive of the US housing data points - in other words, distressed homeowners are far less willing to take a loss than the homebuilders are inclined to move inventory through discounting. Last month's median sale price component - a 9-year low $156K - suggested more and more sellers are waving the white flag.

PRE-MARKET OPEN US EARNINGS session will see Q1 results from cloud stalwart EMC as well as Altria. ATT will post its quarterly results and likely defend the hefty pricetag it offered to DT for T-Mobile USA. Rail giant Union Pacific is likely to benefit from rising fuel costs, while Wells Fargo will round out the earnings from banking heavyweights. Note that this perennial Buffett favorite saw the Omaha oracle boost his holdings even further during the most recent reported quarter.

By GG- AshrafLaidi.com Staff

Ashraf