Friday, July 8, 2022

Markets edge higher as more jobs were than expected in June

Dow went up 85, advancers over decliners 4-3 & NAZ gained 37.  The MLP index added 1+ to the 193s & the REIT index was off 1 to 411.  Junk bond funds did little today & Treasuries were hit with more selling, raising yields.  Oil rose 1+ to the 104s & gold climbed 7 to 1747.

AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)


 

 




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The US labor market remained solid in Jun as hiring paced ahead of expectations.  US employers added 372K jobs during the month compared with 390K in the prior month signaling inflation is having a limited impact on hiring thus far.  The unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% for the 3rd month in a row.  Industries leading the gains included professional & business services, leisure & hospitality, & health care, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   The manufacturing sector, a close gauge of the economy, added 29K jobs up from 15,K in Jun last year.  Average earnings rose 5.1% year over year compared with 5.2% in May.  Still, the growth lags consumer inflation which is running at 8.6%.  The next read for the CPI comes next week.

US economy adds more jobs than expected in June

Ford (F) reported its worst quarterly sales in China since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, amid a resurgence of Covid cases in the country & ongoing global supply chain problems.  Ford sold 120K vehicles during Q2, a roughly 22% decline from a year earlier & its worst sales in Greater China since the fewer than 89K units it sold during tQ1-2020, when gov imposed Covid restrictions brought the country's production to a standstill.  Ford sales in Jun improved exponentially with easing of restrictions, as overall sales exceeded 50K units, up 3% year over year and 38% month over month.  “The pandemic’s resurgence in the past few months challenged us to overcome supply chain and logistics obstacles to positioning Ford for growth in the second half of the year,” Anning Chen, CEO of Ford China, said   But there could still be challenges ahead.  Mainland China's daily Covid case count,including those without symptoms, has surged from a handful of cases to around 200 or 300 new cases in the last several days.  The stock went up 11¢.
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Ford reports worst quarterly sales in China since Covid began

Rail congestion from Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary BNSF & Union Pacific, the railroads servicing the West Coast ports, is getting worse & slowing down container processing at the nation's largest port complex.  Slowdowns involving containers limits future availability & constricts supply, which can spark an increase in container prices.  Congestion was one of the reasons behind the surging freight prices during the pandemic, prices that have been passed onto the consumer contributing to inflation.  “60% of our long dwelling containers are scheduled to go on the rail,” said Gene Seroka, exec director of the Port of Los Angeles.  “Our land capacity is at 90%.”  The increase in time of the import containers staying in the port is one of the key metrics being tracked.  A terminal's land capacity for the efficient movement of containers is 70-75% so the trucks & equipment can easily move.  Vessel anchorage to berth times are steadily improving, allowing for more boxes to land onto terminals, but the fact that rail car capacities are limited will mean future containers may start stacking up in rail yards waiting to be loaded & moved appropriately, according to Captain Adil Ashiq, US Western Region exec for MarineTraffic.  “As these containers stack up, terminals may eventually run out of space, and be unable to take new imports – a slippery slope which may cause vessel dwell times to once again increase, or cause the carriers to instead call another port altogether and avoid the slowdown,” Ashiq added.

Railroad bottleneck at nation’s busiest ports reaches inflection point

The data on jobs added was less than inspiring.  Stocks began trading in the red, then buyers took it into the black.  But enthusiasm is not impressive.  Inflation data is coming next week & expectations are for more of the same as in prior months.

Dow Jones Industrials

 






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