Breaking News, the market meltdown is picking up steam and that’s not the only bad news. We are all being tested in many different ways.
In fact, today’s theme is “Do we all need to be Country Boys These Days?”
The country classic starts with these prophetic lines:
The preacher man says it's the end of time
And the Mississippi River, she's a-goin' dry
The interest is up and the stock market's down
And you only get mugged if you go downtown
Main Street and Wall Street is perfectly reflected in that Hank Williams Jr classic. In fact, the tailspin in several consumer confidence reads seems to have been a harbinger for today’s huge jobs report miss.
The good news was 594,000 people came back to the labor pool, perhaps a sign they’re savings have dried up. However, only 210,000 found a job, and that is a disaster considering the number of job openings and it was far less than consensus.
For those rationalizing these numbers will be revised higher that would mean an increase of 162% - that’s probably not happening.
Wages +4.8% (which missed consensus of +5.0% and less than inflation).
I was hoping for more goods producing industries (I like to call them dirty-fingernail jobs).
I will say, fewer retail jobs have been inevitable and not a bad thing if these workers can move up the pay scale.
To see the chart, click here.
What bothers me more than another big economic miss is the spin. This is not good news for Americans, and it is heartbreaking for Black Americans. President Biden should be straight about this instead of painting a happy picture. Yes, the U3 unemployment rate declined to 6.7% from 8.8% in August, but during that same time period 224,000 Black American have left the labor force.
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I want people to look for work and find it because that is the foundation of the American Dream – nothing feels better than being able to support your family through the sweat of your own brow…and when that doesn’t happy during the greatest jobs market in history, what’s going to happen when those job openings go away?
The number one issue in the country is runaway inflation, and while there are several factors, I think fiscal stimulus programs have been a major contributor. This inflation is a tax and it’s crushing those making decidedly less than $400,000 a year.
In a Gallup poll today, 71% of folks earning less than $40,000 a year say inflation is a hardship – so would sending out trillions more actually make the situation worse?
The stealth market collapse is now fully out in the open and it’s brutal.
Coming into the session, five stocks in the S&P 500, which are now 70% of year-to-date gains and less than 30%, were changing hands above their own 50-day moving average.
The only good news is this is the kind of carnage that creates great buying opportunities, but the bad news is panic selling begets panic selling and finding a bottom is tough.
Listen Up- The market is becoming very oversold, and this is classic capitulation.
Three Important Things to Consider:
- Holding positions that are hammered but fundamentals keep Improving
- Closing Name that are hammered but have weakening fundamentals
- Buying the dip
I would hold off buying until possibly Monday, because maybe there is something the market knows that nobody else does.
I know taking big hits hurts, but it might be necessary to raise cash. On that note, there have been a lot of names I regretted closing, but today I feel brilliant, especially with DOCU, which is off $150 points below our exit alert. The point is, if you are banking gains throughout the year a hit today will be less painful.
For more assistance contact your representative or research desk.
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