The Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed at record highs in what was largely a pedestrian session until a late spurt into the close. The day and week after the jobs report are typically slow, but it gives us a clear insight into investor psyche without influence from data or earnings reports.
We touched on the jobs open report on the afternoon note. But even though stocks didn’t get a jolt from the JOLTS report, which came in slightly below consensus, it’s still near a record high.
Highlight:
- Construction +48,000
- Real Estate and Leasing +40,000
- Food Services +94,000
Declines:
- Wholesale Trade -90,000
- Finance and Insurance -47,000
- Information -32,000
Message of the Market
As for the message of the market, we saw a rebound in technology, but there were more decliners than advancers on the NASDAQ. The Dow notched its 66th record under President Trump and money continues to flow into blue-chip names resulting in 116 stocks closing at new highs and only 26 at new lows.
In addition to having exposure to materials and industrials, look at oversold tech names like Twitter and Tesla coming on strong without little fanfare- a buy signal to me.
Today’s Session
This morning we got the latest on optimism from small businesses – and it’s a monster report. The NFIB reading of 107.5 is well above consensus of 104.4 and the October read of 103.8. In fact, this is the second-best reading in the 44-year history of the report, and the best November since the Reagan era. Eight of ten components were stronger.
Highlights:
- Expect economy to improve, +16 points to 48 (note October 2016 read -7)
- Expect real sales to be higher, +13 points to 34 (note October 2016 read 1)
- Plans to increase employment, +6 points to 24 (note October 2016 read 10)
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