Friday morning ushered in the August payrolls estimate, and the expectation was for about 180,000 jobs created. The ADP report on Thursday mostly said the same and jobless claims have been trending lower, but Friday’s number came in at 169,000, with private payrolls only up 152,000.
It was a disappointing number but not horrible overall.
DIG INTO THE DATA
The revisions are what mean the most to me, June and July were modified lower. Jobless rate ticked lower to 7.3%. Overall, this keeps the Fed engaged longer, rates started to drop just after the headline number was released and gold reversed high (up 25 after the low earlier as of this writing).
STOCKS AT CRITICAL JUNCTURE
The SPX 500 is in a decision point on the chart. The 50-period moving average (MA) is close at 1680 or so and yesterday we finally saw a touch of the 20-MA (on the daily chart). We could see some good movement upward for the markets in September as the Fed meeting passes next week. Futures are testing resistance now at 1660 and once past that number we’ll see higher prices.
PLAYING THE NEWS
A trade idea for the short term could be the SPY Sept 166 call today.
= = =
Got options questions? Ask Lang below. Visit Lang’s website to learn more about his work.
