Dow went up 12, decliners slightly ahead of advancers & NAZ rose 25. The MLP index fell 1 to the 223s & the REIT index gained 2+ to the 402s. Junk bond funds crawled higher & Treasuries rose in price. Oil slid back into the 58s & gold recovered 3 to the 1558s.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
The Dow climbed above 29K for the first time despite the Dec jobs report falling short of expectations. All 3 major averages were trading in record territory. The US economy added 145K nonfarm jobs in Dec, the Labor Dept said, missing the estimate of 164K. The Dow crossed 29K. Looking at commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was little changed at $59.50 a barrel & gold was up a tad at $1556 an ounce. Treasuries gained, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down 2.1 basis points to 1.837%. In Europe, Britain's FTSE slipped slightly after the House of Commons passed a bill authorizing the country's departure from the EU, which is scheduled to occur on Jan 31. Elsewhere, Germany's DAX was up 0.2% & France's CAC inched higher. Overnight, markets in Asia were mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei rallied 0.6% & Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.3% while China's Shanghai Composite was of a smidgen.
US jobs cooled in Dec, as the economy added 145K jobs, ending the decade on a weaker-than-expected note. The final payroll number of 2019 missed the estimate of 164K from economists who also saw the unemployment rate holding steady from Nov's 3.5%. It marks the 111th month of straight gains. Unemployment remained at 3.5%, a ½-century low, as more people were looking for work, the Labor Dept said. The labor force participation rate was little changed at 63.2%. Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose by 2.9% over the past year to $28.32, the weakest annual pace since Jul 2018. Revisions to Oct & Nov brought the 2 months' combined totals down by 14K. The blockbuster 266K initial estimate for Nov was adjusted down by 10K while Oct's dropped by 4K. The latest figure brings the 2019 total to 2.11M, the lower number since 2011 when the economy added 2.09M jobs. In 2018, the economy added 2.63M jobs, the most in 3 years. In 2019, job growth on average was slower than it was in 2018: The monthly average between Jan & Nov last year is 180K jobs per month, compared with an average gain of 223K in 2018. "I still think the economy is strong," Pres Trump's chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said FOX Business. The broader picture of the labor market is consistent with expectations that the economy, in the midst of a record-long expansion, is beginning to slow, a result of the fading stimulus from Pres Trump's $1.5T tax cuts in 2017 & the market-rattling trade war between the US & China. Job gains stemmed largely from retail, which added 41K, hospitality, which grew by 40K, & health care which increased by 28K. Manufacturing lost 12K jobs & mining declined by 8K.
Eli Lilly (LLY) Friday is buying biopharmaceutical company Dermira (DERM) for $18.75 a share ($1.1B in cash). The deal represents a scant 2.2% premium to yesterday's closing price of $18.34, but ELY said it represents a 86% premium to the 60-day volume-weighted average trading price for the company. LLY said the acquisition will expand its immunology pipeline with the addition of lebrikizumab, which is being evaluated in a phase 3 study for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. The drugmaker expects to complete the acquisition, which isn't subject to any financing condition, by the end of Q1. LLY stock rose 1.47 & DERM was up 1.06.
If you would like to learn more about LLY, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/LLY?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
While job creation and employment has continued at a consistent pace, there is an area that needs workers. 62% of construction firms reported few or no qualified applicants & 46% cited the shortage of qualified labor as their top business problem. “The inability to assemble work teams is a key contributor to the comparably lackluster performance of the construction industry as evidenced by the December figures,” said NFIB's Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Owners are raising compensation in order to attract more qualified applicants to fill open positions.” The manufacturing sector reported comparable figures with 63% & 24% respectively. Down from last month, 33% (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period. Finding qualified workers remained the top issue for owners in Dece, with 23% reporting it as their #1 problem. 53% reported hiring or trying to hire, but 94% of those owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Small business owners continued to hire employees, add new positions, & raise compensation in Dec, ending 2019 on a strong note, according to NFIB's monthly jobs report. A historically high percentage of owners have raised & plan to raise worker compensation, with a net 29% reported raising compensation (seasonally adjusted) in the last 3 months & a net 24% plan to do so in the coming months. 7% of owners cited labor costs as their top problem.
Stocks are meandering looking for direction. The jobs report for Dec was so-so, but the bigger picture story is respectable. Monthly reports can be volatile. Signing next week for the first phase of the China trade deal remains on the table while the Dow is just under 29K.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CL=F | Crude Oil | 59.13 | -0.43 | -0.7% |
| GC=F | Gold | 1,555.00 | +0.70 | +0.1% |
The Dow climbed above 29K for the first time despite the Dec jobs report falling short of expectations. All 3 major averages were trading in record territory. The US economy added 145K nonfarm jobs in Dec, the Labor Dept said, missing the estimate of 164K. The Dow crossed 29K. Looking at commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was little changed at $59.50 a barrel & gold was up a tad at $1556 an ounce. Treasuries gained, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down 2.1 basis points to 1.837%. In Europe, Britain's FTSE slipped slightly after the House of Commons passed a bill authorizing the country's departure from the EU, which is scheduled to occur on Jan 31. Elsewhere, Germany's DAX was up 0.2% & France's CAC inched higher. Overnight, markets in Asia were mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei rallied 0.6% & Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.3% while China's Shanghai Composite was of a smidgen.
Dow hits record high of 29,000 despite jobs report miss
US jobs cooled in Dec, as the economy added 145K jobs, ending the decade on a weaker-than-expected note. The final payroll number of 2019 missed the estimate of 164K from economists who also saw the unemployment rate holding steady from Nov's 3.5%. It marks the 111th month of straight gains. Unemployment remained at 3.5%, a ½-century low, as more people were looking for work, the Labor Dept said. The labor force participation rate was little changed at 63.2%. Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose by 2.9% over the past year to $28.32, the weakest annual pace since Jul 2018. Revisions to Oct & Nov brought the 2 months' combined totals down by 14K. The blockbuster 266K initial estimate for Nov was adjusted down by 10K while Oct's dropped by 4K. The latest figure brings the 2019 total to 2.11M, the lower number since 2011 when the economy added 2.09M jobs. In 2018, the economy added 2.63M jobs, the most in 3 years. In 2019, job growth on average was slower than it was in 2018: The monthly average between Jan & Nov last year is 180K jobs per month, compared with an average gain of 223K in 2018. "I still think the economy is strong," Pres Trump's chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said FOX Business. The broader picture of the labor market is consistent with expectations that the economy, in the midst of a record-long expansion, is beginning to slow, a result of the fading stimulus from Pres Trump's $1.5T tax cuts in 2017 & the market-rattling trade war between the US & China. Job gains stemmed largely from retail, which added 41K, hospitality, which grew by 40K, & health care which increased by 28K. Manufacturing lost 12K jobs & mining declined by 8K.
US job growth slows in December, ending 2019 on weaker-than-expected note
Eli Lilly (LLY) Friday is buying biopharmaceutical company Dermira (DERM) for $18.75 a share ($1.1B in cash). The deal represents a scant 2.2% premium to yesterday's closing price of $18.34, but ELY said it represents a 86% premium to the 60-day volume-weighted average trading price for the company. LLY said the acquisition will expand its immunology pipeline with the addition of lebrikizumab, which is being evaluated in a phase 3 study for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. The drugmaker expects to complete the acquisition, which isn't subject to any financing condition, by the end of Q1. LLY stock rose 1.47 & DERM was up 1.06.
If you would like to learn more about LLY, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/LLY?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Eli Lilly to buy biopharma company Dermira for $1.1B
While job creation and employment has continued at a consistent pace, there is an area that needs workers. 62% of construction firms reported few or no qualified applicants & 46% cited the shortage of qualified labor as their top business problem. “The inability to assemble work teams is a key contributor to the comparably lackluster performance of the construction industry as evidenced by the December figures,” said NFIB's Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Owners are raising compensation in order to attract more qualified applicants to fill open positions.” The manufacturing sector reported comparable figures with 63% & 24% respectively. Down from last month, 33% (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period. Finding qualified workers remained the top issue for owners in Dece, with 23% reporting it as their #1 problem. 53% reported hiring or trying to hire, but 94% of those owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Small business owners continued to hire employees, add new positions, & raise compensation in Dec, ending 2019 on a strong note, according to NFIB's monthly jobs report. A historically high percentage of owners have raised & plan to raise worker compensation, with a net 29% reported raising compensation (seasonally adjusted) in the last 3 months & a net 24% plan to do so in the coming months. 7% of owners cited labor costs as their top problem.
Construction jobs are being created, but where are the workers?
Stocks are meandering looking for direction. The jobs report for Dec was so-so, but the bigger picture story is respectable. Monthly reports can be volatile. Signing next week for the first phase of the China trade deal remains on the table while the Dow is just under 29K.
Dow Jones Industrials
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