Last week the six-week winning streak of the manager over the S&P ended. This week, I actually end up in the doghouse, no thanks to the lingering effects of the collapse in techs last week. Here are the numbers:
Nasdaq +1.00%
S&P +0.94%
Dow +0.93%
Worst-known +0.92%
The Labor Department released November non-farm payrolls on Friday and Wall Street’s reaction was muted. The S&P advanced a paltry 0.2% and volume was nothing fancy. Many investors were probably skeptical of the higher-than-expected numbers. I was.
Apparently, about 15% of the 132K jobs created in November were in retail, the most for the sector this year! Ditto bars and restaurants; hotels and motels. These sectors accounted for the bulk of the gains in the payrolls but I bet you many of these jobs are temporary.
Once the holiday season ends, heads will roll in retail. The “hospitality” sector may not see as many job losses as retail because the choleric dollar continues to boost tourism. So check back with the Labor department in March before you put your faith in the strength of fourth quarter job numbers.
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