It did little to relieve investors, who got to witness the impact on bottom-lines of rising energy costs during the first three months of the year. Ford(F Quote) and Harley-Davidson(HDI Quote) joined the growing bandwagon of companies reporting and lowering forecasts due to high oil prices.
Underneath it all was a slew of weaker-than-expected economic indications that bore witness to oil's bite. The trade deficit widened to a record monthly high of $61 billion in February, from an upwardly revised $58.5 billion in January, and above forecasts for a rise to $59 billion. Retail sales, meanwhile, rose just 0.3% in March, below forecasts for sales to rise 0.8%. Excluding autos, sales only increased 0.1%, compared with expectations for a 0.5% gain. Based on those two indicators, most economists revised their growth forecasts downward. Merrill Lynch, for one, trimmed its first-quarter growth forecasts to 3.5% from 4.3%. As for the second quarter, Merrill now expects growth of 3.2% instead of 3.5%.- Loading Comments...
- Loading Comments...
Featured Photo Galleries
| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,270.47 | 1,093.48 | 2,167.88 | 34.29 |
Oil *
75.55
|
|
UP
73.00
|
UP
6.24
|
UP
18.86
|
DOWN
0.17
|
10 Yr
3.43%
SPDR Gold
109.74
|
|
+0.72%
|
+0.57%
|
+0.88%
|
-0.49%
|
Data delayed 20 minutes |














