The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) piled on more bad news to the otherwise pleasing GDP headline for the first quarter. In its first revision to the preliminary estimate, the government agency said output advanced just a little less than first thought. This wasn't actually the substance of their message.
Accompanying this first revision was the first set of estimates for corporate profits. For the second straight quarter, net incomes in the sector fell. This part of economic life can be noisy, a single quarter's minus perhaps not all that meaningful. Two in a row,