Monday, 5-7-12
Last Week:
- Markets faced a rough patch last week. May has been a tough month the prior two years, and got off to a rocky start last week.
- The big news of the week came on Friday with the April jobs report. New jobs were expected to come in at 165,000. The number disappointed at only 115,000. But because the job market pool shrank by 340,000 people, the unemployment rate lowered from 8.2% to 8.1%. (LOL) If the job pool had stayed the same, reports were the unemployment number would have moved up to 8.5%. U.S. markets reacted really negatively to the jobs report, with the S&P500 dropping -22 points on Friday.
- U.S. April retail numbers disappointed. Sales growth of +1.5% was expected. The number came in at +0.8%.
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This Week:
- All eyes will be on Europe. The election of Socialist candidate Hollande in France on Sunday will be the key discussion point for much of the week. During the campaign, Hollande called for the current austerity agreements to be re-negotiated. He also called for new taxes on business and on those making over $1 million euros/year. Question: does that sound familiar to anyone?
- The House, within a committee meeting, will consider possible reform of the Federal Reserve System on Tuesday.
- Earnings season is starting to wind down. Companies reporting earnings: Cisco, Disney, Electronic Arts, Kohl’s, Macys, Nordstrom, Sysco, Tyson Foods and Wynn Resorts.
- Indicator focus: March consumer credit (Mon); March wholesale inventories (Wed); April import prices, March international trade (Thu); April PPI, and preliminary May Michigan sentiment (Fri).
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Best,
Chris
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