Business

Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds

* * *

Bernanke blew it big-time, letting the "recovery" run seven years without any significant increase in rates.

For the second quarter in a row, US worker productivity fell in Q1 (down 0.6% QoQ). Outside of 2015's weather-driven debacle, this is the weakest two quarter tumble in productivity since Q4 2012. Unit labor costs rose 4.5% QoQ in Q1 (revised up from 4.1%) as output actually fell 0.6% (implying a 3.9% rise in compensation). This is the 3rd quarterly drop in output in a row.

Must be the weather...

Forget BTFD... BTFATH is back.

A relentless stream of selling by Bank of America's "smart money" clients stretching for over 4 straight months, or 18 consecutive weeks, is finally over. As BofA's Jill Carey Hall reports, last week, during which the S&P 500 was flat from the prior week, BofAML clients were net buyers of US stocks for the first time in 19 weeks, breaking a record-long selling streak that began in mid-January.

Taiwan's exports fell 9.6% y/y in May, marking the 16th straight month of decline. The results were slightly better than estimates of a 9.9% fall, however significantly worse than April where exports fell 6.5% y/y. Imports also fell 3.4% y/y, leaving a $3.5 billion trade surplus for May.

• Soothing Fed sounds send stocks to five-week high (Reuters)
• Clinton reaches magic number in fight for Democratic nomination (Reuters)
• Euro-Area Economy Grows Faster as Consumption Gathers Pace (BBG)
• Trump unyielding on Hispanic judge uproar (Reuters)
• European Firms Find ‘Increasingly Hostile’ Environment in China (WSJ)
• China tells U.S. to play constructive South China Sea role (Reuters)
• Republican Alternative to Dodd-Frank Calls for Banks to Boost Capital (WSJ)