Twin tweets from two titans, Bill Gross and Nouriel Roubini, on Monday point to pessimistic outlooks from the men and their firms.
"U.S. economy approaching recession when measured by employment, retail sales, investment and corporate profit," Gross (left), chairman of PIMCO, the world's largest bond manager, warned the Twitterati.
Upping the doomsday rhetoric, Roubini (right) tweeted, "Q3 growth could be well below 1% given June sales report and unintended inventory buildup. U.S. at stall speed."
The power duo's sentiment echoed that of JPMorgan Chase, which revised its GDP projections for Q2 and Q3 downward on Monday (to 1.4% from 1.7% and 1.5% from 2%, respectively).
The Federal Reserve provided some relief Tuesday when it reported U.S. industrial output expanded in June driven by a rebound in manufacturing. According to the Fed, industrial production grew 0.4% last month, in line with analysts' expectations.
But the celebration was short-lived, as the overall data still pointed to a sharp slowdown in the sector. Manufacturing output rose at an annual rate of 1.4% during the period, compared with a 9.8% rate in the first quarter.
Further darkening that bright spot, one sector, auto production, accounted for the majority of growth. When auto production was stripped out, manufacturing growth was minimal, rising only 1% during the second quarter.
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