Canada's jobs market pauses in June after monster start to year - BNNBloomberg.ca

The Fed just got the green light to cut rates - Yahoo Sports

The June jobs report crushed expectations. The US economy created 224,000 jobs last month and put to rest fears that had been creeping into the market about a looming recession.

Financial markets are initially reacting to this report as a classic case of “good news is bad news.” Stock futures declined and Treasury yields rose after the report, with investors seeing this better-than-expected number as a sign the Federal Reserve will be less likely to cut interest rates to bolster a faltering economy.

But the June jobs actually outlines a simple reason for the Fed to cut interest rates later this month — there is still plenty of slack in the labor market.

Because while headline job gains in June topped expectations, wage growth missed estimates — wages rose 0.2% over the prior month and 3.1% over last year, both numbers missing the Street’s forecast by 0.1% — and the unemployment rate ticked higher on account of an increase in the labor force participation rate.

Both numbers are signs that the economic expansion which enters its 10th year this month continues to draw new workers into the labor pool.

And if the Fed’s plans to cut interest rates are aimed more at elongating this economic cycle than reacting to an economic expansion that is already rolling over, the argument in favor of reducing interest rates is straightforward.

A 25 basis point cut in July wouldn’t be an ‘overreaction’

Speaking last month at the Council on Foreign Relations, Fed chair Jay Powell noted that the various “crosscurrents” facing the US economy have increased in recent months. Most notably those related to trade.

Powell, however, cautioned that the Fed is “mindful that monetary policy should not overreact to any individual data point or short-term swing in sentiment. Doing so would risk adding even more uncertainty to the outlook.”

Cutting interest rates 50 basis points — as some Fed officials have argued is appropriate on account of inflation undershooting the central bank’s 2% target — is the kind of move that opens the door to market interpretations of an “overreaction” from the Fed.

A 25 basis point cut in July aimed at supporting a labor market that had slowed this year — but still shows signs of excess slack — with inflation running below target is more straightforwardly justified.

“[Friday’s] data are unlikely to stop the Fed from easing at this month’s meeting,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics. “The well-signaled easing reflects officials’ worries about the potential drag on growth from trade-related ‘uncertainties,’ along with sub-2% inflation. However, the report adds to the likelihood that the easing will be of 25 rather than 50 basis points.”

The market on Friday may show signs of disappointment that an aggressive move from the Fed later this month is less likely. But the Fed’s path to trimming interest rates in advance of a more dire economic situation is now more clear than ever.

—

Myles Udland is a reporter and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2XtxAoz
via IFTTT
July 05, 2019 at 08:58PM

Local Cannabis Retailer Unsurprised By Dismissal of Canopy CEO - VOCM

A local cannabis retailer says he’s not surprised with the recent dismissal of Bruce Linton as the CEO of Canopy Growth.

Thomas Clarke took to Facebook this week to say Linton’s departure is “the best decision they made yet.”

Clarke concedes, Linton did a good job bringing in Corona as an investor, but Canopy needed somebody at the top who knows more about cannabis.

Clarke referenced recent comments made by Linton on Fox News talking about Fentanyl-laced cannabis on the black market, something Clarke calls “ludicrous.”

Clarke says when Linton made those comments he lost a lot of credibility.

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2JpXWy9
via IFTTT
July 05, 2019 at 07:16PM

Oil Prices Set For Worst Weekly Drop In Five Weeks | OilPrice.com - OilPrice.com

Concerns about weakening global economy and oil demand growth trumped simmering U.S.-Iran tensions and OPEC and allies’ rollover of the production cuts into 2020, sending oil prices early on Friday on course to book their largest weekly decline in five weeks.

As of 07:09 a.m. EDT on Friday, WTI Crude was down 0.66 percent at $56.96, while Brent Crude was up 0.58 percent at $63.67.

This week, despite the OPEC+ extension of the production cuts through March 2020 and despite geopolitical tension in the Middle East, oil prices were weighed down by fears of worsening economic conditions in major economies.

Oil prices started the week rallying by more than 2 percent on Monday morning, after Saudi Arabia and Russia essentially spoiled in the weekend the outcome of the OPEC+ meeting that was yet to be held, when Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave their support to extension of the cuts at a meeting at the G20 summit.

When OPEC and allies officially endorsed the extension of the cuts on Tuesday, oil prices plummeted by more than 4 percent in the worst reaction to an OPEC meeting in nearly five years, since November 2014, as oil market participants were focused more on signs of weakening demand rather than on an extension that was almost a foregone conclusion.

Then on Wednesday, the EIA reported a draw of 1.1 million barrels in U.S. commercial crude oil inventories for the week to June 28, much smaller than the American Petroleum Institute’s estimate of a 5-million-barrel draw, and much smaller than analyst expectations.

On the economy and oil demand side, a second consecutive decline in new factory orders in the United States in May exacerbated concerns over the pace of the economy on Wednesday. In Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, a much larger-than-expected drop in industrial orders also stoked fears of a possible recession coming.

“Devastating new orders data just undermined any hopes for an industrial rebound,” Carsten Brzeski, Chief Economist ING Germany, said on Friday.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2Xp8uY9
via IFTTT
July 05, 2019 at 09:30PM

Dow falls after strong jobs report weakens the case for lower rates - CNN

The Dow was down just 35 points in mid-afternoon trading Friday after the government reported that 224,000 jobs were added last month — much better than expected. The Dow was down more than 200 points at its lowest level of the day.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell about 0.2%. All three indexes closed at record highs in an abbreviated trading session Wednesday. US markets were closed Thursday for July 4th. Stocks are enjoying a solid week too. The Dow and S&P 500 are each up more than 1% while the Nasdaq has gained more than 1.5%.

"This month's strong jobs report is certainly uplifting after we saw such disappointing numbers in May, and shows that the labor market is still has plenty of fight left," said Steve Rick, chief economist at CUNA Mutual Group, in a report Friday morning. "The economy is still healthy right now, despite some concern rising from shakier, more volatile markets."

But the big rebound in jobs growth — only 72,000 jobs were added in May according to revised figures released Friday — may complicate the picture for the Fed.

As recently as June 20, investors were pricing in a nearly 40% chance of an aggressive half-point rate cut at the Fed's next meeting on July 31, according to futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

After Friday's job report, the likelihood of a half-point cut fell all the way to 5%.

"The plot thickens with respect to the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates at the end of this month," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst with Bankrate.com, in a report.

Still, it is highly unlikely that the Fed will just sit tight at its next meeting. Investors are still worried about the US multi-front trade war and the impact that's having on China's and Europe's economies.

Hamrick said the Fed may "still attempt to mollify investors by putting a modest, so-called insurance cut in place. The array of headwinds associated with slowing global growth, trade disputes and tariffs haven't gone away."

Investors still think there is a 100% chance of at least a quarter-point rate cut by the Fed on July 31.

But the decreased likelihood for a big rate cut boosted bank stocks, as higher interest rates boost the profitability of banks' lending businesses.

Shares of Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS) and even troubled Wells Fargo (WFC) were all higher.

Bond yields spiked as well following the jobs report. The rate for the benchmark 10-year US Treasury rose back above 2%. The US dollar also rallied, which it tends to do after solid domestic economic reports.

Gold prices, which have moved higher recently in part due to expectations of a slower global economy, fell Friday.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/05/investing/dow-stock-market-today-jobs/index.html

2019-07-05 17:49:00Z
52780326772435

US Stock futures lower after jobs report - Fox Business

U.S. equity futures are trading lower after the better than expected monthly nonfarm jobs report.

Continue Reading Below

Wall Street reopens to trading on Friday following a record setting session and the July 4th holiday.

MORE FROM FOXBUSINESS.COM

The June employment report reported 224,000 new nonfarm jobs were created, topping the estimate for 160,000.

The May numbers were revised lower by 3,000 to 72,000.

U.S. stocks traded higher on Wednesday lifting the Dow Jones Industrials, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to new records.

Advertisement

Dow Jones Industrial futures are lower by 0.2 percent, , S&P 500 futures are down 0.3 percent and Nasdaq futures are lower by 0.4 percent.

In Asian markets on Friday, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.2 percent on the day and 1.1 percent for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded lower by 0.1 percent, but up 0.8 percent for the week. Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.2 percent and added 2.2 percent for a fifth straight week of gains.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP

In Europe, London's FTSE slipped 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX is down 0.5 percent and France's CAC was down 0.3 percent.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-stocks-wall-street-july-5-2019

2019-07-05 12:50:16Z
52780326527314

Futures slightly lower before jobs data By Reuters - Investing.com

By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures edged lower, on Friday, as investors awaited the monthly jobs data, which could offer clues on the Federal Reserve's move on interest rates.

Nonfarm payrolls data from the Labor Department is likely to show an increase by 160,000 jobs last month after rising by only 75,000 in May, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The data is due at 8:30 a.m ET (1230 GMT).

The likely rebound in U.S. job growth and expectations of a pick up in wage gains would probably not be enough to discourage the Fed from cutting interest rates this month amid growing evidence the economy is slowing.

A spate of weak economic data on Wednesday raised hopes of an interest rate cut and helped the Wall Street's main indexes clinch record closing highs.

"It appears that, unless the report shows a radically lower figure – as happened in May – markets could accept a broadly solid jobs report as confirmation that the July FOMC meeting will result in only 25 basis point of easing," Chris Turner, global head of strategy at ING, said.

Traders fully expect the U.S. central bank to lower borrowing costs by at least a quarter point at its policy meeting on July 30-31 and also see a 23% chance of a 50-basis-point reduction.

A protracted U.S.-China trade war is also seen as a reason behind the Fed's dovish stance, although a trade truce reached between the United States and China and their return to talks last week have tempered bets of a half-point cut.

At 6:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis () were down 35 points, or 0.13%. S&P 500 e-minis () were down 4.75 points, or 0.16% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis () were down 15 points, or 0.19%.

Trading volumes could be thin at the end of holiday-shortened week as markets were shut on Thursday for Independence Day holiday.

Among stocks, Qualcomm Inc (O:) fell 2.9% in premarket trade, with Intel Corp (O:) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (O:) also trading lower, after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:) forecast a steep plunge in its second-quarter operating profit due to a supply glut and rising tariffs hitting global demand for electronics.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/futures-slightly-lower-before-jobs-data-1915931

2019-07-05 11:46:00Z
52780326527314