Unemployment rate up...Stocks DOWN

The Unemployment rate rose yesterday to 5.5% from 5.0% sending shock waves through the financial community. I for one was surprised by the reaction (judging from the market the only one!). I have never put to much weight behind the rate itself as it can be thrown off by a lot of factors. Were there more people looking for work ? Summer Employment by students ? Maybe more people are looking now because they view the markets as picking up and there is more opportunity. Time will tell, but remember non farm payrolls were slightly better then expected and that to me is the big number.

The dollar got hit hard and in turn crude prices sky rocketed (up 10 dollars). This of course is terrible news for the economy and in the long run will be crushing.

``What held up the consumer in the face of increasing oil prices the last few years has been a strong job market, and that's clearly no longer the case,'' said Matthew DiFilippo, senior portfolio manager at Stewart Capital Advisors in Indiana, Pennsylvania, which manages $1 billion.

Hillary Clinton bows out of the election and the Democratic party looks to be unifying. This is very good for Barack Obama but how good will it be for markets as/if he gets closer to being elected......


Good Luck and Good Currency Trading