Friends
This morning’s private payroll number from ADP came in worse than expected as the report showed that payrolls declined by 32,000 in November. This was music to the ears of market participants hoping for a Fed rate cut next week. Stocks rallied from the open of trading and the market averages closed near their highs for the day.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 408 points to finish the day at 47,882. The S&P 500 was up 20 points to close at 6,849. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 40 points to close at 23,454. Gold was up $20 to trade at $4,241 per ounce, while oil was up $.40 to trade at $59.04 per barrel WTI.
So, we got a taste of bad news is good news today. It appears that anything that helps make the case for lower interest rates is cheered on by market participants. Weak labor data is the best fuel for a lower Fed Funds rate. Of course, we will see if the long end of the yield curve behaves this time (assuming the Fed will lower the Fed Funds rate by a quarter of a point next week). Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
