Anthrax And Unemployment Numbers
Rumors
on the trading floor of airlines with anthrax (PROBABLY
UNTRUE!) and horrible October employment numbers (VERY POSSIBLE) have taken
their toll on traders and investors. We will see what the real picture is for
the U.S. labor environment when Friday’s crucial October employment report is
released, but right now, that’s what is scaring folks and keeping the bears in
the driver’s seat.
Today’s numbers
showed that our economy recorded its sharpest contraction since the end of the
last recession. Sure, that was slightly better than Street expectations, but
hardly a reason to buy. The hard numbers are numbing in their solemnity: 574,123
men and women have been laid off since Sept. 11, and these
numbers are expected to get worse before they get better.
As to the rumors of
anthrax being transported on two Northwest
Airlines
(
NWAC |
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PowerRating) flights, Fox reports that flight crews and
passengers were held, but nothing was found. No further explanation was given
but it was enough to spook the markets into a 60-point sell-off.
Right now, we are
seeing communication chip stocks such as Broadcom
(
BRCM |
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PowerRating) and Applied Micro
Circuits
(
AMCC |
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PowerRating) moving to the upside, with momentum players
buying on each minor pullback.