While the markets are down slightly ahead of this long holiday weekend, things are quite calm.  The dollar is stronger again today while gold, silver, and copper are all lower.  Oil is down but is off its lows and Brent is back above $40 and WTI around $39.50.  The latest Baker Hughes report shows U.S. rigs declined by 15 from last week.  However, stockpiles remain at record highs, climbing 9.4 million barrels from last week.

Initial claims for Americans filing for unemployment rose to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 from the previous week’s revised number of 259,000.   The four week moving average increased to 259,250 from the previous week’s revised 259,500.   This was the longest streak, 55 weeks, with claims below 300,000.

For the week ending March 12, the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment decreased by 39,000 to 2,179,000 from the previous week's revised level of 2,218,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,206,500, a decrease of 13,500 from the previous week.

Happy Easter.