OPEC Meets on Sunday, What This Means to You…
Stocks traded
in a volatile session today as worse-than-expected nonfarm payrolls
report kept stocks under pressure from the start. Adding to the fire, both
Schering-Plough
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FleetBoston Financial
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their earnings estimates. The nonfarms payroll report for December revealed that
instead of adding 20,000 jobs, 101,000 were lost. This was the biggest loss in
jobs since last February. The report also showed that the unemployment rate
stayed steady at a two-year high of 6%. However, stocks futures would not stay
down for long, crossing the flat line several times before squeezing out a small
gain. The March S&Ps
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to 926 while the March Nasdaq 100 futures
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February gold
made another contract highs amid geopolitical concerns with both Iraq and North
Korea. Gold
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The dollar continued its downtrend
into three-year new lows on news of the negative jobs report. Geopolitical
tension also has weighed heavily on the greenback. North Korea today withdrew
from a 1968 treaty which kept it from producing nuclear weapons. The loss of
jobs could impact consumer spending which in return would hurt the economic
recovery. As the economy suffers, fewer foreign investors would be attracted
invest in US assets. The March dollar index
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Crude oil declined after trading
higher earlier in the session. Crude traded lower ahead of the OPEC meeting this
weekend to discuss whether or not they should raise production to help make up
for Venezuela. February crude
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fell 0.41 to 31.68.
Treasuries initially rallied on news
of the worse-than-expected jobs report. However treasuries weakened and gave
back the majority of their gains as stocks gained strength. The
March 10-year contract
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118 18/32 and the 30-year contract gained
1/32 to 109 1/32
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