Dow shot up 137 to a an almost 4 year high, advancers over decliners 4-1 (could have been more impressive in this rally) & NAZ jumped 41. Bank stocks led the way, taking the Financial Index to its highest levels since late Jul.
The MLP index fell on profit taking but the REIT index rose 2½ to its yearly high. Junk bond funds were a little higher on the good economic news while Treasuries sold off. Gold rose on the better than expected economic report & gold fell, good economic news is not a plus for gold.
Photo: Yahoo
243K jobs were added in Jan, far more than expected & the unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%, the lowest in 3 years as hiring accelerated across the economy. The high-salary professional services industry added 70K jobs, the most in 10 months. Manufacturing added 50K, the most in a year. It was the most jobs added since Mar & Apr of last year, when 246K & 251K jobs were created. Before that, the last month with stronger hiring, excluding months skewed by temporary census jobs, was Mar 2006. The gov said hiring was stronger in Nov & Dec & by 60K jobs than first estimated. It was also stronger over the past 2 years than previously thought. The economy added 1.8M jobs last year, nearly twice as many as in 2010. The unemployment rate was down from 8.5% last month & the 5th consecutive month the rate has fallen, the first time that has happened since late 1994. Employers have added an average of 201K jobs a month in the past 3 months. The unemployment rate fell even as more people began looking for work, but a much larger number said they found work. Even with the gains, the job market faces a long way back to full health. The US has about 5.6M fewer jobs than it did when the recession began in late 2007. There are still 12.8M out of work, though that is the fewest since the recession ended. An additional 11M are either working part-time but would prefer full-time work, or have stopped searching for jobs. A very encouraging report on the economy!
Unemployment Drops to 8.3%; Payrolls in U.S. Jump 243,000
Photo: Yahoo
Orders to US factories rose in Dec, led by capital goods such as heavy machinery. Factory orders rose 1.1% following a 2.2% gain in Nov according to the Commerce Dept. For the year, total orders were up 12.1% following a gain of 12.9% in 2010. Orders had plunged 22% in the 2009, the year the deep recession ended. For Dec, orders for core capital goods rose 3.1% to an all-time high, driven in part by a rush by businesses to take advantage of expiring tax breaks. The advances in 2011 pushed orders for the year up to $5.36T, still slightly below the peak of $5.44T set in 2008. For Dec, orders for durable goods rose 3%, unchanged from a preliminary report last week. Orders for nondurable goods slipped 0.4%, reflecting declines in petroleum products. The orders category that signals business investment plans, non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, climbed to an all-time high of $69B in Dec. Another good report.
Factory orders up 1.1 percent in December AP
Greece's fight to win its 2nd bailout may only open a new chapter in its struggle to remain in the euro area. The rescue plan includes a loss of more than 70% for bondholders in a voluntary debt exchange loans likely to exceed the €130B ($171B) previously discussed. But Greece will be still be saddled with too much debt, too little growth & too large a budget hole to do without even more aid. The Greek Prime Minister Papademos said the country is close to completing the bailout talks. “We are in the final phase of this very critical process to shape a new financing program for Greece and to complete the loan agreement which will lighten the burden of public debt and ensure funding for years to come,” Papademos said. Uh huh!
Greece Seeks Second Rescue, Fights for Euro
Markets are having a great day, but the rally could have been more impressive given the abundance of good economic news. MLPs did not participate, although they could be excused after their extraordinary rally from the lows in Nov 2008. Housing is a major sector in the economy & its dismal performance is partly responsible for unemployment remaining at very high levels. Then there is the Greek debt mess, not to mention other fragile European debts, which needs fixing along with the looming Euro recession. But bulls are in command & they want to take the Dow over 13K, not too far away.
S&P 500 Financials Sector Index
| Value | 197.63 | |
| Change | 4.43 (2.3%) |
The MLP index fell on profit taking but the REIT index rose 2½ to its yearly high. Junk bond funds were a little higher on the good economic news while Treasuries sold off. Gold rose on the better than expected economic report & gold fell, good economic news is not a plus for gold.
Alerian MLP Index
| Value | 396.60 | |
| Change | -1.37 (-0.3%) |
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month | 0.076% | |
U.S. 2-year | 0.234% | |
U.S. 10-year | 1.938% |
| CLH12.NYM | ...Crude Oil Mar 12 | ...97.27 | ..... 0.91 | (0.4%) |
| GCG12.CMX | ...Gold Feb 12 | .....1,742.40 | ... 14.40 | (0.2%) |
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243K jobs were added in Jan, far more than expected & the unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%, the lowest in 3 years as hiring accelerated across the economy. The high-salary professional services industry added 70K jobs, the most in 10 months. Manufacturing added 50K, the most in a year. It was the most jobs added since Mar & Apr of last year, when 246K & 251K jobs were created. Before that, the last month with stronger hiring, excluding months skewed by temporary census jobs, was Mar 2006. The gov said hiring was stronger in Nov & Dec & by 60K jobs than first estimated. It was also stronger over the past 2 years than previously thought. The economy added 1.8M jobs last year, nearly twice as many as in 2010. The unemployment rate was down from 8.5% last month & the 5th consecutive month the rate has fallen, the first time that has happened since late 1994. Employers have added an average of 201K jobs a month in the past 3 months. The unemployment rate fell even as more people began looking for work, but a much larger number said they found work. Even with the gains, the job market faces a long way back to full health. The US has about 5.6M fewer jobs than it did when the recession began in late 2007. There are still 12.8M out of work, though that is the fewest since the recession ended. An additional 11M are either working part-time but would prefer full-time work, or have stopped searching for jobs. A very encouraging report on the economy!
Unemployment Drops to 8.3%; Payrolls in U.S. Jump 243,000
Orders to US factories rose in Dec, led by capital goods such as heavy machinery. Factory orders rose 1.1% following a 2.2% gain in Nov according to the Commerce Dept. For the year, total orders were up 12.1% following a gain of 12.9% in 2010. Orders had plunged 22% in the 2009, the year the deep recession ended. For Dec, orders for core capital goods rose 3.1% to an all-time high, driven in part by a rush by businesses to take advantage of expiring tax breaks. The advances in 2011 pushed orders for the year up to $5.36T, still slightly below the peak of $5.44T set in 2008. For Dec, orders for durable goods rose 3%, unchanged from a preliminary report last week. Orders for nondurable goods slipped 0.4%, reflecting declines in petroleum products. The orders category that signals business investment plans, non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, climbed to an all-time high of $69B in Dec. Another good report.
Factory orders up 1.1 percent in December AP
Greece's fight to win its 2nd bailout may only open a new chapter in its struggle to remain in the euro area. The rescue plan includes a loss of more than 70% for bondholders in a voluntary debt exchange loans likely to exceed the €130B ($171B) previously discussed. But Greece will be still be saddled with too much debt, too little growth & too large a budget hole to do without even more aid. The Greek Prime Minister Papademos said the country is close to completing the bailout talks. “We are in the final phase of this very critical process to shape a new financing program for Greece and to complete the loan agreement which will lighten the burden of public debt and ensure funding for years to come,” Papademos said. Uh huh!
Greece Seeks Second Rescue, Fights for Euro
Markets are having a great day, but the rally could have been more impressive given the abundance of good economic news. MLPs did not participate, although they could be excused after their extraordinary rally from the lows in Nov 2008. Housing is a major sector in the economy & its dismal performance is partly responsible for unemployment remaining at very high levels. Then there is the Greek debt mess, not to mention other fragile European debts, which needs fixing along with the looming Euro recession. But bulls are in command & they want to take the Dow over 13K, not too far away.
Dow Industrials
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