This morning's weak Jobless Claims data provides another
reminder of the labor market's recent loss of momentum. Growth
worries come through from headlines about China as well, with a
private sector reading confirming the weakening trend in that
country's manufacturing sector. The Fed acknowledged these growth
concerns on Wednesday, when it significantly downgraded its GDP
growth outlook.
Initial Jobless Claims dropped by 2K to 387K last week. But
since the preceding week's tally of 386K was revised upwards by 3K,
we actually have a modest decrease. The four-week average, which
smoothes out the week-to-week volatility, increased by 3.5K to
386.8K.
This week's Jobless Claims data pertains to the survey week for
the June non-farm payroll numbers that will come out early July.
And these numbers confirm that the June jobs will be along the
lines of what we have been seeing in the last three months.
Europe as a problem has been with us for a while now, but this
synchronized global slowdown appears to be becoming an even bigger
issue. We are not seeing this issue play out fully in the equity
markets yet, but the oil market seems to be appropriately pricing
it. Stock market investors appear to be holding out hope that
central banks would be able to stem the slide. The Chinese have
started implementing some stimulative measures and this morning's
HSBC 'flash' PMI results show that they will need to do more.
On the home front, one could argue about whether the Fed's
various easing measures have had any impact. But no one can doubt
that they stand ready to 'do more' going forward. Wednesday's
extension of Operation Twist was considered underwhelming by some
in the market, but the bigger news was the extent of the downgrade
to the Fed's GDP growth outlook.
Bernanke went to great lengths in his press conference to
reiterate that they are not out of options and that they will do
more should there be a need. But the market seems to realize that
the Fed may not be able to do anything else this year, given the
November elections and the timeline for Operation Twist 2.
In corporate news,
ConAgra Foods
(
CAG
) came out with better-than-expected results when one-off pension
accounting related charges are excluded.
Rite Aid
(
RAD
) posted better-than-expected results, but guided lower.
CarMax
(
KMX
) missed expectations.
CONAGRA FOODS (CAG): Free Stock Analysis Report
CARMAX GP (CC) (KMX): Free Stock Analysis
Report
RITE AID CORP (RAD): Free Stock Analysis Report
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