With all eyes on an advertising industry slump, Alphabet posted strong Q1 figures even as it noted a March slowdown. Many big travel booking names have been cutting their multibillion-dollar ad budgets by 50%-80%, and Alphabet revenues are still dominated by advertising (99% of Alphabet revenues from Google, and 84% of that from ads). But in Q1, the company grew revenues 13% and operating income 19%, lifted by a strong first two months before a March drop-off alongside widespread business shutdowns. YouTube ad revenue rose 33.5% year over year.  (SA)

Boeing posted a first-quarter loss of $641 million and said it burned through $4.3 billion in cash during the first quarter as the company faces both coronavirus and the more than yearlong grounding of its best-selling plane, the 737 Max.  Before the market opened on Wednesday, the company said it is planning to reduce production of some aircraft, including the 787 Dreamliner, and to cut payroll by about 10% through voluntary measures “involuntary layoffs as necessary.”  Revenue plunged 26% from a year earlier to $16.91 billion and the company.  (CNBC)

The first read on US GDP is out… US first-quarter GDP shrank 4.8%, vs 3.5% decline expected.  All eyes will be on the Fed’s monetary policy decision due at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday. Investors will look to the central bank’s statement and chairman Jerome Powell’s virtual press conference for clues about how long interest rates will stay near zero as the economy seeks to emerge from coronavirus crisis.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Josh Fenili.