Q1 GDP, Ex-Inventories, Slides Toward Barely Above Water

from the ever-irreverent folks at Zero Hedge:

The bottom line: Q1 GDP ex-inventories came at 0.8%, the lowest since Q3 2009. The economy has hit stall speed, and absent another fiscal (nope) or monetary (QE3) stimulus, we will go negative in Q2, now that the full impact of the Japanese economic collapse has forced even the ostriches to pull their heads out of the sand. Alternatively, Bernanke will be stuck with the worst case of stagflation since the 1970s. Rock and hard place: just as we predicted in December 2010.
The chart below shows the ugly collapse in the economy in Q1: recall that up to a month ago it was supposed to grow by 4%! Now, ex inventories, it is 0.8%. And most importantly, the strong US consumer, in the form of the Personal Consumption Expenditures, sees his share of economic growth drop by over 30%, from 2.8% to 1.9%.