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A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the Web

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Canadian and U.S. gross domestic product growth estimates are just crossing the wire at time of writing,

"Gross domestic product was unchanged in February following three months of growth. Gains in service-producing industries were offset by declines in goods-producing industries. Service-producing industries were up 0.2 per cent in February following a 0.5-per-cent gain in January, the highest monthly growth rate since January 2013. Goods-producing industries were down for the first time since October, declining 0.3 per cent in February."

U.S. growth disappointed,

"The U.S. economy expanded at the slowest pace in three years as weak auto sales and lower home-heating bills dragged down consumer spending, offsetting a pickup in investment led by housing and oil drilling. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 0.7 percent annualized rate after advancing 2.1 percent in the prior quarter, Commerce Department data showed Friday in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1 percent gain.'

"Gross domestic product by industry, February 2017" – Statistics Canada
"U.S. Economy Expands at Slowest Pace in Three Years" – Bloomberg

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Warren Buffett called Jeff Bezos "the best business person I have ever seen'" in a November 2016 discussion with University of Maryland students, and Mr. Bezos continues to prove him right with blow-out profit results,

"'Amazon appears to be firing on all cylinders,' said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. 'The core e-commerce segment growth remains very healthy, Amazon Web Services was fairly stable even with the recent price reductions, and growth in subscription services and advertising is robust, starting to move the needle, and helping to augment profitability.'"

Motley Fool's Morgan Housel pointed to what he believes is the best analogy for Amazon's success – World War II,

"I've never been in an Amazon board meeting, but I believe management is charged with coming up with cool ideas that are ridiculously expensive, as others can't follow. The majority of (actual) wars have not been won with strategy, bravery, training, or superior equipment, but brute force. At the end of WWll, the Allies had 38 gallons of gasoline for every one the Germans did. Amazon is the retailer with 38 gallons."

"Amazon Extends Growth Streak, Unfazed by Lavish Spending" – Bloomberg
"What we're reading" – Collaborative Fund
"Amazon revenue soars as cloud, retail businesses dominate" – Reuters
"@pearkes This chart, man." – Twitter

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Aeronautics giant Boeing has requested an official investigation into the pricing of Bombardier's C-class jets,

"Boeing said in its petition that Bombardier, determined to win a key order from Delta Air Lines Inc after losing a competition at United Airlines, had offered its planes to the airline at an "absurdly low" $19.6-million each, well below what it described as the aircraft's production cost of $33.2-million."Propelled by massive, supply creating and illegal government subsidies, Bombardier Inc has embarked on an aggressive campaign to dump its C Series aircraft in the United States," Boeing said in its petition."

"Boeing seeks anti-dumping probe over Bombardier's C Series' – Report on Business
"Canada's options limited as it faces prospect of U.S. trade war" – Reuters

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Tweet of the day: "@paulkrugman Fun fact: Retail trade lost more jobs in the past 2 months than coal mining lost in the past 20 years bloomberg.com/news/articles/… ' – Twitter

Diversion: "Smartphone-Controlled Cells Could Pump Insulin for Diabetics" – M.I.T. Technology Review

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 18/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
AMZN-Q
Amazon.com Inc
+0.03%174.48
BA-N
Boeing Company
-1.47%179.84

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