07 Jun 2024 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: S&P 500 And The Dow Opened Sharply Down, Then Trended Higher Seeing The S&P 500 Setting A New High, And Then The Jobs Report Sends Indexes Spiraling Downward Closing Fractionally Lower

Summary Of the Markets Today:

  • The Dow closed down 87 points or 0.22%,
  • Nasdaq closed down 0.23%,
  • S&P 500 closed down 0.11%, (Closed at 5,347, New Historic high 5,375)
  • Gold $2,310 down $81.40,
  • WTI crude oil settled at $75 down $0.24,
  • 10-year U.S. Treasury 4.432 up 0.151 points,
  • USD index $104.94 up $0.84,
  • Bitcoin $69,204 down $1,570 or 2.22%,
  • Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. -6 to 594 Canada +15 to 143

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


Click here to read our current Economic Forecast – June 2024 Economic Forecast: Our Index Marginally Weakened And There Is Another Indicator Warning Of A Recession


Today’s Economic Releases Compiled by Steven Hansen, Publisher:

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 272,000 in May 2024, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.0%. Employment continued to trend up in several industries, led by health care; government; leisure and hospitality; and professional, scientific, and technical services. Talk about crazy, the headline establishment survey showing employment gain of 272,000 (blue bars on the graph below) – the household survey shows an employment DECREASE of 408,000 (red bars on the graph below). Either one or both of the surveys must be wrong as they do not agree. And the household survey (which is the basis of the headline unemployment rate) shows the total workforce fell by 250,000 whilst the number of unemployed increased by 157,000. Also worth noting that the temporary help services fell for the third month in a row which is indicative of a slowing economy.

April 2024 sales of merchant wholesalers were up 1.4% from the revised April 2023 level. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers were down 1.7% from the revised April 2023 level
The April inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was 1.35. The April 2023 ratio was 1.39. A rising inventory/sales ratio is indicative of a slowing economy – but the amount of rise is currently insignificant – and my takeaway from this and employment levels in this industry is that the economy remains little changed.

U.S. homeowners with a mortgage pulled in $28,000 in equity gains year over year in first quarter of 2024, the highest number since late 2022. California ($64,000), Massachusetts ($61,000) and New Jersey ($59,000) led the country for annual home equity gains in the first quarter. Dr. Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic added:

With home prices continuing to reach new highs, owners are also seeing their equity approach the historic peaks of 2023, close to a total of $305,000 per owner. Importantly, higher prices have also lifted some 190,000 homeowners out of negative equity, leaving only about 1.8% of those with mortgages underwater. Home equity is key to mortgage holders who have seen other homeownership costs soar, including insurance, taxes and HOA fees, as a source of financial buffer. Also, low amounts of negative equity are welcomed in markets that have shown price weaknesses this spring, such as Florida (1.1% of homes underwater) and Texas (1.7% of homes underwater) — both of which are below the national rate — as further price declines could drive more homeowners to lose their equity.

Holy crap Batman – the Federal Reserve says consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.5 percent in April 2024. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 0.4 percent, while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent. My preferred method of calculating consumer credit growth is 2.0% growth year-over-year. And a 2.0% growth taking inflation into account is a decline of 0.2% year-over-year. This is a major warning sign that the consumer is reducing its use of credit – and that translates into fewer purchases. Fewer purchases = a slowing economy. The slowing is most noticeable in non-revolving credit (cars, student loans, and personal loans) but revolving credit (credit cards) is also slowing.

Here are some of headlines we are reading today:

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

06 Jun 2024 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: S&P 500 And The Nasdaq Opened By Recording New Historic Highs, Then Trending Down By Trading At The Unchanged Line, Finally Closing Mixed

Summary Of the Markets Today:

  • The Dow closed up 79 points or 0.20%,
  • Nasdaq closed down 0.09%, (Closed at 17,173, New Historic high 17,236)
  • S&P 500 closed down 0.02%, (Closed at 5,353, New Historic high 5,362)
  • Gold $2,391 up $15.70,
  • WTI crude oil settled at $76 up $1.48,
  • 10-year U.S. Treasury 4.287 down 0.002 points,
  • USD index $104.12 down $0.140,
  • Bitcoin $70,528 down 598 or 0.83%

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


Click here to read our current Economic Forecast – June 2024 Economic Forecast: Our Index Marginally Weakened And There Is Another Indicator Warning Of A Recession


Today’s Economic Releases Compiled by Steven Hansen, Publisher:

According to NFIB’s monthly jobs report, a net 18% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners plan to raise compensation in the next three months in May 2024, down three points from last month and the lowest reading since March 2021. Seasonally adjusted, a net 37% of owners reported raising compensation, down one point from April but historically very high. NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg stated:

An exceptionally high number of small businesses are still struggling to fill open positions. Although plans to increase compensation have fallen, small firms continue in their efforts to attract and retain workers.

April 2024 imports were up 3.4% year-over-year (down from 3.7% year-over-year in March 2024. April exports were up 6.1% year-over-year (up from 3.4% year-over-year in March. Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $5.5 billion, or 2.0 percent, from the same period in 2023.

U.S.-based employers announced 63,816 cuts in May, a 1.5% decrease from the 64,789 cuts announced one month prior. It is down 20% from the 80,089 cuts announced in the same month in 2023. According to Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.:

Job cuts remained flat in May as companies assess performance and make plans for Q3 and Q4. Meanwhile, hiring announcements are at their lowest levels in a decade. The typical churn in a healthy labor market appears to be stalling. Cuts in the Technology sector dominated announcements last year. While the sector continues to make cuts, it isn’t nearly at the same pace.

In the week ending June 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims 4-week moving average was 222,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 222,500 to 223,000.

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.9% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2024. Unit labor costs are up 0.9% year-over-year. If productivity grows faster than labor costs – it is a sign of increased competitiveness on the international stage.

Here are some of headlines we are reading today:

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

05Jun2024 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: Markets Gain On ADP Employment Data Which Came In Under Expectations

Summary Of the Markets Today:

  • The Dow closed up 96 points or 0.25%,
  • Nasdaq closed up 1.96%,
  • S&P 500 closed up 1.18%,
  • Gold $2,373 up $25.60,
  • WTI crude oil settled at $74 up $0.88,
  • 10-year U.S. Treasury 4.281 down 0.055 points,
  • USD index $104.28 up $0.17,
  • Bitcoin $71,235 up $694 or 0.98%

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


Click here to read our current Economic Forecast – June 2024 Economic Forecast: Our Index Marginally Weakened And There Is Another Indicator Warning Of A Recession


Today’s Economic Releases Compiled by Steven Hansen, Publisher:

Private employers added 152,000 jobs in May 2024 and annual pay was up 5.0% year-over-year. Job gains were slower in May due to a steep decline in manufacturing. Leisure and hospitality also showed weaker hiring. Since August 2023. if anything – the trend of ADP’s jobs growth has been improving. Also note that with such a low unemployment rate, 150,000 job growth is more than enough to maintain a low unemployment rate. The graph below compares ADP’s private employment growth to the BLS’s total non-farm employment growth. Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP noted:

Job gains and pay growth are slowing going into the second half of the year. The labor market is solid, but we’re monitoring notable pockets of weakness tied to both producers and consumers.

In May 2024, the ISM Services PMI® registered 53.8% 4.4 percentage points higher than April’s reading of 49.4%. The contraction in April ended a string of 15 months of services sector growth following a composite index reading of 49 percent in December 2022; the last contraction before that was in May 2020 (45.4 percent). The Business Activity Index registered 61.2 percent in May, which is 10.3 percentage points higher than the 50.9 percent recorded in April. The New Orders Index expanded in May for the 17th consecutive month after contracting in December 2022 for the first time since May 2020; the figure of 54.1 percent is 1.9 percentage points higher than the April reading of 52.2 percent. I was worried that the service portion of the economy was slowing – but today’s index shows this sector is just a little soft but not weakening.

Here are some of headlines we are reading today:

  • Biden Wants Big Tech To Invest in Power Generation for AI Boom
  • Washington Looking to Revive More Shuttered Nuclear Plants
  • Heat-Resistant Aluminum Alloys: A Breakthrough in Aerospace Engineering
  • Virginia Breaks Free from California’s EV Mandate
  • Oil Under Pressure As EIA Confirms Rising Crude, Fuel Inventories
  • Russia’s War in Ukraine Has Hit Gazprom’s Revenues Hard
  • Saudi Aramco Looks to Buy Into U.S. LNG Project
  • Nvidia briefly passes Apple as second most valuable public U.S. company
  • Boeing Starliner launches for the first time carrying NASA astronauts to the ISS

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

Today Through the Fourth Friday (22 to 28 days) Weather Outlook for the U.S. and a Six-Day Forecast for the World: posted June 5, 2024

This article focuses on what we are paying attention to in the next 48 to 72 hours. The article also includes weather maps for longer-term U.S. outlooks and a six-day World weather outlook which can be very useful for travelers.

First the NWS Short Range Forecast. The afternoon NWS text update can be found here after about 4 p.m. New York time but it is unlikely to have changed very much from the morning update. The images in this article automatically update.

Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
Wed Jun 05 2024
Valid 12Z Wed Jun 05 2024 – 12Z Fri Jun 07 2024

…Excessive Heat Warnings in effect across parts of California’s Central
Valley region as well as the Desert Southwest; Extreme Heat Risk continues
across south Texas…

…Thunderstorms and heavy to Excessive Rainfall possible from Southern
Plains to Northeast through Thursday…

A very pronounced ridge will build across the Western U.S. over the next
few days while upper-level lows influence the pattern across the lower 48
from their respective stations off the Baja and Nova Scotia Coasts. The
upper ridge will support a heat wave which will expand across the region.
High temperatures in the 90s and 100s will be 20-30 degrees above average
for this time of year, while low temperatures in the upper 60s and 70s
will offer little respite at night. Widespread high and low temperature
records may be tied or broken through Friday. There are Excessive Heat
Warnings in effect for California’s Central Valley as well as portions of
the Desert Southwest including southeastern California, southern Nevada
and western/southern Arizona. Mild night time temperatures will continue
to plague southern Texas through the end of the week. These extremely hot
conditions will affect anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate
hydration.

A pair of low pressure systems tracking across the eastern half of the
country will trigger scattered to isolated showers and thunderstorms
across much of the region today before shifting into just the East Coast
on Thursday. Deep layer moisture paired with instability will support
locally heavy rainfall over parts of the Ohio Valley, Central Appalachians
and Mid-Atlantic where a Slight Risk (at least 15%) of Excessive Rainfall
leading to Flash Flooding is in effect for today. The threat for Excessive
Rainfall shifts into parts of the interior Northeast and New England on
Thursday, where another Slight Risk of Excessive Rainfall is in effect. A
pattern change will ensue across the Eastern U.S. on Thursday, in which a
digging trough will usher in cooler air temperatures and continue through
the weekend.

To get your local forecast plus active alerts and warnings click HERE and enter your city, state or zip code.

Learn about wave patterns HERE.

Then, looking at the world and of course, the U.S. shows here also. Today we are looking at precipitation.

Please click on “Read More” below to access the full Daily Report issued today.

04 Jun 2024 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: Markets Opened Mixed, Bitcoin Crosses $70 K, Job Openings Fall, Dow Rises Over 140 Points

Summary Of the Markets Today:

  • The Dow closed up 140 points or 0.36%,
  • Nasdaq closed up 0.17%,
  • S&P 500 closed up 0.15%,
  • Gold $2,347 down $22.20,
  • WTI crude oil settled at $73 down $0.90,
  • 10-year U.S. Treasury 4.332 down 0.070 points,
  • USD index $104.14 down $0.001,
  • Bitcoin $70,250 up 1,459 or 2.12%

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


Click here to read our current Economic Forecast – June 2024 Economic Forecast: Our Index Marginally Weakened And There Is Another Indicator Warning Of A Recession


Today’s Economic Releases Compiled by Steven Hansen, Publisher:

The number of job openings changed little at 8.1 million on the last business day of April 2024. Over the month, both the number of hires and total separations were little changed at 5.6 million and 5.4 million, respectively. When comparing the unemployment level to job openings – we find the ratio of the unemployment level to job openings is growing which implies the number of available jobs to each unemployed person is modestly declining. However, this decline at this point is insignificant which implies May 2024 jobs growth should be similar to April’s.

 

Here is a summary of headlines we are reading today:

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

Today Through the Fourth Friday (22 to 28 days) Weather Outlook for the U.S. and a Six-Day Forecast for the World: posted June 4, 2024

This article focuses on what we are paying attention to in the next 48 to 72 hours. The article also includes weather maps for longer-term U.S. outlooks and a six-day World weather outlook which can be very useful for travelers.

First the NWS Short Range Forecast. The afternoon NWS text update can be found here after about 4 p.m. New York time but it is unlikely to have changed very much from the morning update. The images in this article automatically update.

Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
Tue Jun 04 2024
Valid 12Z Tue Jun 04 2024 – 12Z Thu Jun 06 2024

…There is a Moderate Risk of Excessive Rainfall leading to Flash
Flooding over parts of southeastern Oklahoma and the ArkLaTex today…

…Severe Thunderstorms possible across parts of the Mississippi Valley
today…

…Growing Excessive Heat potential over portions of California’s central
valley region as well as the Desert Southwest; southern Texas heat risk
persists…

An amplified upper trough will swing through the Great Plains and
Mississippi Valley, bringing with it a pair of cold fronts and
thunderstorm activity over the next couple of days. Potent mid-level
energy on the southern periphery of the trough anchored over
southern-central Canada will move slowly across the Deep South today and
promote a pair of MCSs to propagate across the ArkLaTex region this
morning and then again tonight. The repeating thunderstorms (potentially
severe) over the same area prompted the issuance of a Moderate Risk (at
least 40%) of Excessive Rainfall leading to Flash Flooding over portions
of southeastern Oklahoma through the ArkLaTex for the 24 hour period
ending Wednesday morning. Frontally driven diurnal convection will also
occur across the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley this afternoon and
evening. The Storm Prediction Center issued Slight Risks (level 2/5) of
Severe Thunderstorms over parts of the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley and
another one across the ArkLaTex into western Mississippi. Large hail and
severe wind gusts will be the main threat for any severe storms that
develop over the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley, while damaging wind
gusts will be the sole threat across the ArkLaTex/Lower Mississippi Valley.

A deepening upper ridge in the West and cutoff low west of Baja will
support a heat wave across much of the Western U.S. over the next several
days. Temperatures will be below average for the Pacific Northwest today
but will be overtaken by warmer conditions beginning on Wednesday. Areas
of particular concern include the low elevation regions of California’s
central valley and the Desert Southwest where high temperatures will
easily climb over 100 degrees beginning today. High temperature anomalies
of 20-30 degrees above average are likely. Widespread temperature records
are expected to be tied or broken across much of the aforementioned areas.
Excessive Heat Warnings and Watches extend from the central valley down
through southern California’s deserts, southern Nevada and
southern/western Arizona. HeatRisk will peak over California’s central
valley on Wednesday before expanding into the Desert Southwest later this
week. Little overnight relief will make for dangerous conditions for those
without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration. HeatRisk over
southern Texas peaks today but persists for the next few days.

To get your local forecast plus active alerts and warnings click HERE and enter your city, state or zip code.

Learn about wave patterns HERE.

Then, looking at the world and of course, the U.S. shows here also. Today we are looking at precipitation.

Please click on “Read More” below to access the full Daily Report issued today.

03 Jun 2024 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: Markets Opened Higher On First Day Of June Trading, Dow Falls On Concerns of Inflation And A Slowing Economy, Indexes Closed Mixed

Summary Of the Markets Today:

  • The Dow closed down 115 points or 0.30%,
  • Nasdaq closed up 0.56%,
  • S&P 500 closed up 0.11%,
  • Gold $2,366 up $20.50,
  • WTI crude oil settled at $74 down $2.99,
  • 10-year U.S. Treasury 4.402 down 0.110 points,
  • USD index $104.12 down $0.55,
  • Bitcoin $69,192 up 1,457 or 2.15%

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


Click here to read our current Economic Forecast – June 2024 Economic Forecast: Our Index Marginally Weakened And There Is Another Indicator Warning Of A Recession


Today’s Economic Releases Compiled by Steven Hansen, Publisher:

One of the economic bright spots in the economy is beginning to slow – but remains high historically. Construction spending during April 2024 declined to 10.0% year-over-year from last month’s  10.5%. Both public and private sector construction declined.

The Institute of Supply Management’s Manufacturing PMI® registered 48.7% in May 2024, down 0.5 percentage point from the 49.2% recorded in April. A Manufacturing PMI® above 42.5%, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. The New Orders Index remained in contraction territory, registering 45.4%, 3.7 percentage points lower than April. The Backlog of Orders Index registered 42.4%, down 3 percentage points in April.

Here is a summary of headlines we are reading today:

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

Today Through the Fourth Friday (22 to 28 days) Weather Outlook for the U.S. and a Six-Day Forecast for the World: posted June 3, 2024

This article focuses on what we are paying attention to in the next 48 to 72 hours. The article also includes weather maps for longer-term U.S. outlooks and a six-day World weather outlook which can be very useful for travelers.

First the NWS Short Range Forecast. The afternoon NWS text update can be found here after about 4 p.m. New York time but it is unlikely to have changed very much from the morning update. The images in this article automatically update.

Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
Mon Jun 03 2024
Valid 12Z Mon Jun 03 2024 – 12Z Wed Jun 05 2024

…Excessive Rainfall and Severe Weather threaten portions of the
Mississippi Valley and Southern Plains today…

…Increasing Excessive Heat Risk potential over parts of the West and
southern Texas through mid-week…

Shortwave energy spinning through the Northwest will support showers and
thunderstorm activity across the region today. Rainfall rates over the
favored terrain of the Cascades and Northern Rockies will be high enough
to warrant an Excessive Rainfall threat. Thus, a Slight Risk (at least
15%) of Excessive Rainfall leading to Flash Flooding is in effect for
portions of the Northern Rockies, while a Marginal Risk (at least 5%) area
is in place over the Cascades, Olympics and Seattle Metro area. Elsewhere,
showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue over parts of the Great
Plains and Mississippi Valley today. Pockets of severe thunderstorms
capable of producing heavy to excessive rainfall may develop over parts of
the Southern Plains into the Mississippi Valley. Slight Risks of Excessive
Rainfall and Severe Thunderstorms are in effect over those areas, where a
swath of damaging wind gusts are possible. The severe thunderstorm threat
concentrates over parts of the Central Plains and Middle Mississippi
Valley on Tuesday, where a Slight Risk is in effect. Large hail is
possible at the outset when storms are more cellular, but will then be
followed by a congealing of cells into a line of storms with damaging wind
gusts eventually being the main threat.

An upper ridge is expected to develop over the West early to mid-week.
High temperatures will gradually climb into 100s by Wednesday and Thursday
with many records potentially being tied or broken on those days.
Excessive Heat Warnings are in effect for the central valley region of
California while Excessive Heat Watches are in effect for parts of the
Desert Southwest. Extreme HeatRisk is probable to continue for much of
southern Texas through Wednesday. This level of heat risk means that there
will likely be little to no overnight relief for those without effective
cooling and/or adequate hydration.

To get your local forecast plus active alerts and warnings click HERE and enter your city, state or zip code.

Learn about wave patterns HERE.

Then, looking at the world and of course, the U.S. shows here also. Today we are looking at precipitation.

Please click on “Read More” below to access the full Daily Report issued today.

The China/Russia Axis

While the West has greatly assisted Ukraine against Russia’s aggression, China has substantially supported Russia despite China’s professed strong attachment to the principle of national sovereignty. How can we understand the China/Russia axis? How solid is this partnership? What does the future hold?


Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0

Today Through the Fourth Friday (22 to 28 days) Weather Outlook for the U.S. and a Six-Day Forecast for the World: posted June 2, 2024

This article focuses on what we are paying attention to in the next 48 to 72 hours. The article also includes weather maps for longer-term U.S. outlooks and a six-day World weather outlook which can be very useful for travelers.

First the NWS Short Range Forecast. The afternoon NWS text update can be found here after about 4 p.m. New York time but it is unlikely to have changed very much from the morning update. The images in this article automatically update.

Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
Sun Jun 02 2024
Valid 12Z Sun Jun 02 2024 – 12Z Tue Jun 04 2024

…Excessive Rainfall and Severe Thunderstorms possible over portions of
the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley…

…Heavy to Excessive Rainfall possible across parts of the Northwest
through Monday…

…Increasing Excessive Heat threat over parts of California, Nevada and
Arizona…

A series of shortwaves will be responsible for Excessive Rainfall and
Severe Thunderstorms that develop across the Great Plains and Mississippi
Valley over the next few days. Today, showers and isolated thunderstorms
will spread from the High Plains into the Mississippi Valley. Some storms
may turn severe. The Storm Prediction Center issued an Enhanced Risk
(level 3/5) of Severe Thunderstorms across portions of the Central High
Plains this afternoon and evening. Very large hail, severe wind gusts
greater than 75 mph, and a few tornadoes are expected. Rain rates in some
of those storms could be high enough to cause flash flooding which is why
there’s a Slight Risk (at least 15%) of Excessive Rainfall over parts of
the Northern/Central Plains and Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley.

Elsewhere, a deep upper low will transport anomalous tropical Pacific
moisture into the Northwest today. Excessive Rainfall is naturally a
concern over the favorable terrain of the Cascades, Bitterrroots, Salmon
River Mountains as well as the Seattle metro, where Slight Risks (at least
15%) are in effect through Monday. Monday will be a Marginal Risk kind of
day for Excessive Rainfall and Severe Thunderstorms over parts of the
Southern/Central Plains and Mississippi Valley. Cloudy/cooler conditions
will prevail over the Northwest thanks to the Atmospheric River event set
to unfold over the next couple of days. Otherwise, the Great Plains and
Northeast are likely to experience above average temperatures this week.
Abnormal heat is expected to expand across parts of the West mid-week.

To get your local forecast plus active alerts and warnings click HERE and enter your city, state or zip code.

Learn about wave patterns HERE.

Then, looking at the world and of course, the U.S. shows here also. Today we are looking at precipitation.

Please click on “Read More” below to access the full Daily Report issued today.