The U.S. current account aims to measure the nation’s international trade balance, and it considers all goods, services and unilateral transfers each quarter. Today’s report was a first-quarter measurement, so it should have little to no real impact on the markets. The trade deficit for the first quarter shared the same trend as the prior quarter by coming in lighter than expected at -$106.1 billion, versus the Bloomberg consensus reading of -$111.2 billion.
Source: Thinkstock
What economists will track is that the first quarter’s -$106.1 billion was also lower than the -$110.4 billion report of the fourth quarter of 2012 and the -$112.5 billion in the third quarter of 2012.
The United States has run a trade deficit for so long that it is hard for investors to care. Long-term planners and economists care, but the long and short of the matter is that this has not moved the needle for stocks or bonds in longer than memory can serve.
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