Summary Of the Markets Today:
- The Dow closed down 193 points or 0.56%,
- Nasdaq closed up 0.13%,
- S&P 500 closed down 0.08%,
- Gold $1817 up $57.20,
- WTI crude oil settled at $81 up $0.81,
- 10-year U.S. Treasury 3.508% down 0.193%,
- USD index $104.72 down $1.23,
- Bitcoin $16,913 down $260.80
Today’s Economic Releases:
Small businesses reporting labor quality as their top small business operating problem remains elevated at 21%, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. Nine percent of owners reported labor cost as their single most important problem, down one point from October.
U.S.-based employers announced 76,835 cuts in November, a 127% increase from the 33,843 cuts announced in October. It is 417% higher than the 14,875 cuts announced in the same month last year. The bulk of the job cuts were in the tech sector.
Disposable personal income (DPI) increased by 0.7% and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased by 0.8%. The PCE price index increased by 0.3%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased by 0.2%. Year-over-year growth shows income is down 4.9% year-over-year (blue line on the graph below whilst expenditures is up 2.1% year-over-year (red line on the graph below).
Construction spending during October 2022 was estimated at 9.2% above the October 2021. Unfortunately, inflation in this sector is significant and the year-over-year growth is -8.7% (see graph below).
In the week ending November 26, the unemployment insurance weekly claims 4-week moving average was 228,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 226,750 to 227,000. Claims have stayed relatively stable throughout 2022.
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in November for the first time since May 2020 after 29 consecutive months of growth, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. “The November Manufacturing PMI registered 49%, 1.2 percentage points lower than the 50.2% recorded in October. The Manufacturing PMI figure is the lowest since May 2020.
A summary of headlines we are reading today:
- Oil Prices Could Sink Without Further OPEC+ Action
- Biden Administration Mulls Complete Revamp Of Biofuels Mandate
- Scientists Find Two Completely New Minerals On Meteorite
- Tax ‘refunds may be smaller in 2023,’ warns IRS. Here’s why
- House approves tentative labor deal to avoid rail strike, sends to Senate
- Mortgage rates fall for the third straight week, but demand still drops further
- Jefferies Warns Employees Of Reduced Bonuses As Dealmaking Slows
- Yield Curve Is Telling Us Next Fed Cutting Cycle Could Be Big
These and other headlines and news summaries moving the markets today are included below.