Questions Raised As Chicago Fed's National Activity Index Disappoints Ahead Of U.S. Q1 GDP Release

Michael Guli, director at Knight Capital, weighs in on existing home sales data and the Chicago Fed's National Activity Index ahead of the highly anticipated release of U.S. first-quarter (Q1) gross domestic product (GDP) on April 26, 2013. Existing home sales slipped 0.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million units, the National Association of Realtors said on Monday. The Chicago Fed's National Activity Index (CFNAI), a monthly index designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure, showed that economic activity was slower in March. The index slipped to -0.23 in March from 0.76 in February, while the more-representative three-month moving average fell to -0.01 from 0.12, its lowest level since October.The CFNAI is a weighted average of 85 existing monthly indicators of national economic activity.