Summary Of the Markets Today:

The NYSE closed for Good Friday.

• Gold $2,024 down $11.90,
• WTI crude oil settled at $80 down $0.15,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury 3.413% up 0.123 points,
• USD $102.11 up $0.28,
• Bitcoin $27,918 down $126.70,

*Stock data, cryptocurrency, and commodity prices at the market closing.

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Click here to read our Economic Forecast for April 2023

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Today’s Economic Releases:

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 236,000 in March, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.5%. Employment continued to trend up in leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services, and healthcare.  Always love the disconnect between the surveys as the household survey shows a gain of 577,000 jobs (versus the 236,000 in the headline establishment survey). There are warning signs in the establishment data with the goods-producing sectors declining by 7,000 – combine this with falling imports and yah gotta think the consumer is hunkering down. And health care and government provided nearly 100,000 jobs in this employment report. All in all, employment is excellent looking at the household survey, and shaky looking at the establishment survey.

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• South Korea Pledges $5 Billion In Support For Battery Makers In The U.S.
• Commercial Drones Poised To Disrupt Global Supply Chains
• U.S. Short-Term Steel Outlook Remains Bullish
• Offshore Oil Workers To Stage Biggest Strike In A Generation
• Tesla: A Sustainable Energy Economy Is Cheaper Than Sticking To Fossil Fuels
• Job growth totals 236,000 in March, near expectations as hiring pace slows
• Why it’s possible to have too much employment in the U.S.
• US job creation slows but unemployment stays low
• Once US goes into recession, EMs will do well: Andrew Holland

Click on the “Read More” below to access these, other headlines, and the associated news summaries moving the markets today.

Summary Of the Markets Today:

• The Dow closed up 3 points or 0.01%,
• Nasdaq closed up 0.76%,
• S&P 500 closed up 0.36%,
• Gold $2,023 down $12.50,
• WTI crude oil settled at $81 down $0.06,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury 3.298% up 0.11 points,
• USD $101.91 up $0.05,
• Bitcoin $28,017 down $150,
• Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. -4 to 751 Canada -12 to 127

*Stock data, cryptocurrency, and commodity prices at the market closing.

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Click here to read our Economic Forecast for April 2023

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Today’s Economic Releases:

U.S.-based employers announced 89,703 cuts in March, up 15% from the 77,770 announced in February. It is up 319% from the 21,387 cuts announced in the same month in 2022. March’s total marks the third time this year that cuts were higher than the corresponding month a year earlier. Employers announced 270,416 cuts in the first quarter, a 396% increase from the 55,696 cuts announced in the same period one year prior. It is the highest first-quarter total since 2020, when 346,683 cuts were announced from January to March. It is the highest quarterly total since the third quarter of 2020 when 497,215 cuts were recorded.

In the week ending April 1, unemployment insurance initial claims‘ 4-week moving average was 237,750, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 43,750 from 198,250 to 242,000. !!! This massive change is explained that they have significantly revised their methodology for seasonal adjusting. Their description of the changes is convoluted but now there is a definite trend of growing unemployment.

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• Can Renewable Energy Save America’s Coal Communities?
• Tokyo Scientists Unveil Solid-State Battery Breakthrough
• North Sea Oil Production Could Fall By 80% By 2030
• Vogtle Nuclear Unit Begins Producing Power
• Drilling Activity Continues To Fall In The U.S.
• Tesla’s Pivot Away From Rare Earths Could Push Other Automakers To Follow Suit
• S&P 500 ends Thursday higher, but suffers its first down week in four: Live updates
• Key inflation data and earnings reports loom as labor market signals a slowing U.S. economy
• Bed Bath & Beyond proposes reverse stock split as it struggles to avoid bankruptcy
• Earnings Outlook: Banks on the line for deposit flows and margin pressure in Q1 updates as they reel from banking crisis

Click on the “Read More” below to access these, other headlines, and the associated news summaries moving the markets today.

Summary Of the Markets Today:

• The Dow closed up 80 points or 0.24%,
• Nasdaq closed down 1.07%,
• S&P 500 closed down 0.25%,
• Gold $2037 down $0.60,
• WTI crude oil settled at $80 down $0.26,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury 3.302% down 0.034 points,
• USD index $101.92 up $0.34,
• Bitcoin $28,244 up $65

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Click here to read our Economic Forecast for April 2023

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Today’s Economic Releases:

Private employers added 145,000 jobs in March (blue line on the graph below) according to the ADP employment report. Over the last year, employment growth has been moderating. According to Nela Richardson, the chief economist at ADP:

Our March payroll data is one of several signals that the economy is slowing. Employers are pulling back from a year of strong hiring and pay growth, after a three-month plateau, is inching down

Both exports and imports of goods and services declined in February 2023 – but imports declined more than exports causing an increase in the trade deficit. Over the last 12 months, imports (which are an indicator of US economic growth) have been slowing.

The ISM Services PMI fell to 51.2 in March of 2023 from 55.1 in February and well below forecasts of 54.5. The reading pointed to the slowest growth in the services sector in three months, as demand and employment cooled while capacity and logistics improved and price pressures eased to the lowest since September 2020. This decline is considered as this index is showing services are nearing the no-growth line – and the services PMI correlates well with past US recessions.

source: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/non-manufacturing-pmi

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• China Considers Prohibiting Exports Of Rare Earth Magnet Technology To The U.S.
• Oil Markets Are Misinterpreting The OPEC+ Cut
• Small Modular Reactors Are Gaining Ground
• White House Will Work With All Oil Producers To Ensure Low Prices
• Russian Urals Breaks Past $60 Price Cap Thanks To OPEC+
• Fitch Raises Saudi Arabia’s Credit Rating Due To “Formidable” Foreign Reserves
• Inflation’s inventory gluts are here to stay and will hit the bottom line in weaker economy
• Nasdaq falls 1% for three-day losing streak after weak economic data: Live updates
• Google reveals its newest A.I. supercomputer, says it beats Nvidia
• U.S. Dollar “Fear Mongers” Only Need To Be Right Once

Click on the “Read More” below to access these, other headlines, and the associated news summaries moving the markets today.

Summary Of the Markets Today:

• The Dow closed down 199 points or 0.59%,
• Nasdaq closed down 0.52%,
• S&P 500 closed down 0.58%,
• Gold $2,040 up $39.50,
• WTI crude oil settled at $80 down $0.02,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury 3.352% down 0.08 points,
• USD $101.56 down $0.53,
• Bitcoin $28,195 up $104,

*Stock data, cryptocurrency, and commodity prices at the market closing.

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Click here to read our Economic Forecast for April 2023

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Today’s Economic Releases:

The number of job openings decreased to 9.9 million on the last business day of February 2023. The graph below compares job openings (red line) against changes in employment (blue line) – basically as job openings go down employment gains go down. Over the month,  the number of hires and total separations changed little at 6.2 million and 5.8 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (4.0 million) edged up, while layoffs and discharges (1.5 million) decreased.

 

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• Ford Gets Outsold By GM In EV Market As The Two Duke It Out For No. 2 Spot
• U.S. Wheat Production Problems Could Worsen Food Inflation
• Tesla Continues To Slide Despite Jump In Chinese Sales
• West Ready To Support Ukraine For As Long As It Takes, Says NATO Chief
• Japan Is Betting Big On Hydrogen
• EIA: U.S. Oil And Liquids Production Expected To Rise By 10% Through 2050
• Job openings tumbled below 10 million in February for the first time in nearly two years
• Stocks close lower Tuesday, Dow and S&P 500 snap four-day win streaks as economic worries loom: Live updates
• Oppenheimer says a rally is coming for renewable stocks, gives its top picks
• Jamie Dimon says the banking crisis is not over and will cause ‘repercussions for years to come’
• Dogecoin spikes 25% after Twitter logo swap, and bitcoin miners seek 2023 comeback: CNBC Crypto World
• Futures Movers: U.S. oil prices settle at their highest since January in wake of surprise OPEC+ production cuts

Click on the “Read More” below to access these, other headlines, and the associated news summaries moving the markets today.