Friends
The non-farm payroll number released this morning came in slightly better than economists had been forecasting (103,000 new jobs) but not enough to make a dent in the unemployment rate which remained at 9.1%. After a volatile week, stocks reacted somewhat calmly with the Dow Jones Industrial Average meandering throughout the day, until the last hour, once again, when stocks returned to the rally mode rising 100 Dow points only to fizzle in the last 20 minutes. For the day, the Dow ended with a loss of 20 points, and the S&P 500 finished the day down more than 9 points to close at 1155. In the end, it was somewhat a quiet ending to a very volatile week. At least for the week, when all was said and done, stocks were up about 2% on the S&P.
With the non-farm payroll number behind us, traders will begin to focus on 3rd quarter earnings reports which will start coming late next week. These reports, along with the global debt soap opera will provide the catalyst for stocks for the next few weeks. As much as what the companies report, we will be especially interested in what the companies say about the upcoming quarters. Going in, the expectations are that companies are going to guide downward with regards to their prospects over the next few quarters.
Earnings season is upon us once again. We’ll keep you informed.
Have a nice weekend everyone.
