Before the Open (Oct 5)

Posted on by Jason Leavitt

Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Employment Numbers Day.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Australia, Indonesia and Singapore did well. Europe is currently up across the board. Greece is up 5.1%; France, Austria, Amsterdam, Norway, Stockholm and the Czech Republic are doing well. Before the latest jobs data was released, futures here in the States pointed towards an up open for the cash market.

The dollar is flat. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down slightly.
Here are the numbers…
unemployment rate: 7.8% (it was 8.1% last month)
nonfarm payrolls: up 114K (110K was expected)
private payrolls: (I will post these when I get the number)
average workweek: 34.5 hours (up 0.1 hours)
hourly earnings: $23.58 (up 7 cents)
Also, the July and August numbers were revised up.
On the news, index futures jumped…but it’s not entirely clear why. Good employment numbers are good by themselves. They also help Obama get re-elected. Bad numbers would be bad by themselves, but they’d help Romney get elected. Is Wall St. cheering the data or the prospects of Obama serving four more years?
From a trading standpoint, it probably doesn’t matter. The intermediate term trend is up; the near term is still cloudy, but it has improved this week.
India’s market experienced a flash crash today. At one point it was down 15.5%, but it ended the day only down 0.7%.
ZNGA cut their earnings forecast for the rest of the year. The stock is down almost 22% before the open.
Analysts are cutting guidance for FB because they get a good chunk of their revenue from Zynga. FB is down 2.6%.
CW cut its 2012 profit guidance. The stock is down 3.6%.
CTIC is down 28.4%.
STZ is out with earnings…the stock is up 0.5% in premarket trading.
CACH forecast a wider loss and lower sales for Q3. The stock is down 15.4%.
DTLK lowered Q3 forecast. The stock is down 16%.
The S&P has posted a gain each day this week and is up nicely on the week. But the number of set ups which look ripe for trading is low. We have a few good one but not as many as we typically have when the market is strong. I’m in the market and long, but I’m playing it safe. More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
headlines at MarketWatch
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers

0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Oct 5)”

  1. The NFP numbers look good, but on a closer look the gains were in government jobs -educational and public safety. The private sector loss jobs. The revisions in the prior number were also mostly seasonal public hires. Then labor force participation fell and that dropped the total number U6 no real revision. This number is one of the fastest crap games in town, and most of us don’t even know the rules (not many). The household survey on working or looking has such a small sample that it must be viewed with skepticism.
    In the market because it is inevitably going to rise under stimulus, but it has no significant change in gross profits, or total earnings. That means the P is expanding and the E is declining. If anyone cares. Like a rubber band it will unwind one day. Oh well,we
    play because it is the only game in town and there will be inflation for the cash hounds. Maybe gold? I think so, ride an index, own dividends and still some cash.

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