What’s Up, What’s Down: Spotlight on Indices
Comments for July 8, 2011
Looking ahead to Friday by reflecting back on Thursday’s trading
Futures and options trading is speculative in nature and involves substantial risk of loss. Futures and options trading is not suitable for all investors.
SPOTLIGHT ON STOCK INDICES
U.S. EMPLOYMENT SITUATION
Today’s employment report is abysmal
Nonfarm payroll employment in June slowed to a crawl with an 18,000 gain, following a revised 25,000 rise in May, and revised 217,000 in April. The market median forecast was for a 105,000 boost. Also, the April and May revisions were down net 44,000. Once again, the government sector held down payroll numbers as private nonfarm payrolls outpaced the total with an increase of 57,000 in June, following a 73,000 advance in May. Analysts had projected a 125,000 gain in June.
From the household survey, the unemployment rate edged up to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent in May. The consensus expected 9.0 percent.
Stock index futures reacted with a very significant drop in values. Currently, at 8:00 am Central (July 8) here is how the eight sectors which comprise our Futures HeatMap are trading:
-Financials are the strongest sector (but remember, higher prices for bonds and notes equates to lower interest rates)
-Though perhaps not related to this morning’s news, Grains are up a composite 0.26% in early morning trading.
-The Energy sector is down a composite 0.35%
-And not surprising, the weakest of the eight sector is Stock Indices. When current prices are compares to yesterday’s (Thursday) closing prices, the five contracts which comprise the Stock Index segment are down a composite 0.94%.
The following charts show trading as of 8:00 am Central time today (July 8)
Rick Alexander has been a broker and analyst in the futures business for over thirty years. He is a Vice-President for Sales and Trading at the Zaner Group (www.zaner.com) a Chicago-based futures brokerage firm. Email Rick at ralexander@zaner.com or call toll-free (888) 281-4158.
Futures and options trading is speculative in nature and involves substantial risk of loss. Futures and options trading is not suitable for all investors. The information in this Report and the opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. All known news and events have already been factored into the price of the underlying commodities discussed.