Morning Commentary
It was another down session yesterday, but it was also another a session that saw major indices climb well off intra-session lows. Buyers were still focused on old-school quality, resulting in more 52-week highs than lows on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Overall, market breadth remains negative, and the marker remains tentative. In addition, there was a sea of red outside Energy (XLE) names.
Market Breadth |
NYSE |
NASDAQ |
Advancers |
1,293 |
1,898 |
Decliners |
1,831 |
2,715 |
New Highs |
64 |
106 |
New Lows |
37 |
91 |
Up Volume |
1.71 billion |
1.99 billion |
Down Volume |
2.16 billion |
2.75 billion |
Investor Sentiment
Bullish sentiment tumbled back to 20.5%, but bearishness tumbled just as much as more investors were neutral. It is consecutive weeks of negative spread-shattering record books, but it hasn’t been a great contrarian indicator.
Fed Rate & Bond Yield Watch
This morning’s jobs report for December will have a sizable impact on the market. The notion of a 50-basis points (bps) rate hike is gaining. This could become official, depending on the data and cheerleading.
Keep an eye on bond yields, which have essentially been sideways, but hinting at rallying back to recent highs – that would roil the equity market. The Fed promises destruction unless unemployment begins to spike.
Portfolio Approach
There are no sector weighting changes this morning to our Hotline Model Portfolio.
Jobs Report
Make it nine times in a row the jobs report has come in better than expected, which extends what was already a record-shattering achievement.
At 223,000 the December release is better than 200,000 the consensus but continues to drift lower.
Seeing the print, I thought the market would plunge – because the Fed doesn’t want to see a “strong” (I’m saying this tongue-in-cheek) report. But there were some serious issues with the report that are problems for Main Street but exactly what Powell & Co want to achieve.
Wages
Participation
The participation rate edged higher to 62.3 from 62.2 as civil labor force increased 439,000. Again, this is what Powell wants to see.
Market reaction is everything, but we don’t trust strong opening action – the big test today is how we close.
Watching bond yields and CME Fed watch tracker.
Tweet |
5/12/2025 1:22 PM | Strong Gains |
5/12/2025 9:47 AM | MAJOR PROGRESS WITH CHINA |
5/9/2025 1:15 PM | Friday Fluctuations |
5/9/2025 9:25 AM | SO MUCH EXCITEMENT |
5/8/2025 1:49 PM | First Trade Deal |
5/8/2025 9:37 AM | POWELL SEES NOTHING |
5/7/2025 12:53 PM | Powell Under Pressure |
5/7/2025 9:48 AM | THE LUXURY OF BEING GREEDY |
5/6/2025 1:20 PM | Anxiety Continues |
5/6/2025 9:45 AM | ANXIETY RETURNS |
5/5/2025 1:18 PM | Market Consolidating |
5/5/2025 9:41 AM | MID-CAP MUSCLE |
5/2/2025 1:19 PM | Labor Market Resilience |
5/2/2025 9:57 AM | BACK TO THE STARTING LINE |
5/1/2025 1:31 PM | Big Tech Resilience |
5/1/2025 9:52 AM | MAMA SAID |
4/30/2025 1:35 PM | Midday Recovery |
4/30/2025 9:52 AM | BIG HITTERS ON DECK |
4/29/2025 1:49 PM | Fluctuating |
4/29/2025 9:48 AM | BUY SIGNALS & RECESSION TALK |
4/28/2025 1:22 PM | Earnings Angst |
4/28/2025 10:03 AM | BIG TEST |
4/25/2025 1:16 PM | Quiet Friday |
4/25/2025 9:57 AM | HYSTERIA TO HOPE |
4/24/2025 1:12 PM | Solid Session |
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