Friday, October 08, 2004
Boom Times for Bush
Urp...0 comments
More Maalox for Karl Rove, please.
And the morning started with such promise.
This from Briefing.com:
08:02 ET Market is Closed
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.9. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +4.5. Futures trade denotes a positive bias, which should translate into a higher open for the cash market... GE's in line Q3 (Sept) report - and its guidance that is at the high-end of its previous range, combined with what was in line reports from AA and AMD, have brought more buyers into the market after yesterday's sell-off.
Then this hit the wires:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Situation Summary
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: SEPTEMBER 2004
Nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend upward in September, increasing by 96,000, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the prior 3 months, payroll employment rose by 103,000 on average. In September, modest job gains occurred in a few service-providing industries.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons was unchanged at 8.0 million in September, and the unemployment rate held at 5.4 percent, seasonally adjusted. The jobless rate is down from its most recent high of 6.3 percent in June 2003; most of this decline occurred in the second half of last year.
The jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.0 percent), adult
women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.6 percent), whites (4.7 percent), blacks (10.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.1 percent)--showed little or no change in September. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment was about unchanged in September at 139.5 million, and the employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--was little changed at 62.3 percent. Over the month, the civilian labor force was essentially unchanged at 147.5 million. The labor force
participation rate was 65.9 percent in September and has been at or near that
level since late last year.
Wall Street, as you would imagine, reacted accordingly.
09:45 ET Dow -14, Nasdaq -6, S&P -0.49
[BRIEFING.COM] Stock market begins with losses across the board as a weaker than expected employment report prompts more selling...The economy added 96K jobs in September, which was lighter than what the consensus estimate (+150K) called for...August nonfarm payrolls were also revised 16K lower, to 128K, and the average work week in September declined 0.1 to 33.7 hours (consensus of 33.7 hours).
And things haven't improved any through the day.
11:25 ET Dow -31, Nasdaq -13, S&P -4.07
[BRIEFING.COM] The market remains on the defensive as investors continue to be put off by the pace of economic growth... By and large, all of this week's economic reports (August Factory Orders, September ISM Services, September employment) fell short of expectations and reinforced fears about a global slowdown...The persistently high price of crude oil - which has set three all-time highs this week - hasn't helped in that regard and has helped keep Asia and Europe in the red too.
Someone go get a napkin, so Sen. John Kerry can wipe his chin.
There is no truth to the rumor that Kerry has already shown up at the Debate site in St. Louis and is currently standing on stage, asking, "Can we start now? Hunh? Hunh?"
posted by Gotham 1:19 PM
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