The Market On Thursday

Good morning. It is 52 degrees and overcast here in Upstate NY. The next few days are logo-ed out to be rainy. We were hoping for a little space in order to get the garden in, might not happen. Regardless, I'm just back from an early morning visit to the chiropractor where the crunching was in full swing. Chiropractors work on the spine and my doctor is good at explaining some of the details and what is going on. I think I finally understand what the crunching sound is all about, it's just a release of gasses in the joint of the spine that is being manipulated.

At 8:30 a.m. futures are slightly higher, the dollar is down against major world currencies, and the price of oil is down per barrel. The market is poised to modestly sputter at the opening bell.

I just read that today's first time unemployment number for the week came in at 365,000. That will be regarded as good news, as it falls below the expected number.

Employment will be playing a major part in this week's market movement as the government releases monthly data for April's job creation tomorrow.

Otherwise it is still important to note that corporations are doing great guns, first quarter reports are stronger than expected. So where's the jobs, job creators?

CNN: Investors on jobs watch

...stocks have received some support of late from better-than-expected first-quarter corporate results. 68% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beat analysts' expectations...


Fears about a so-called hard landing in China, a stalled U.S. recovery and a flare-up in Europe's debt crisis have been weighing...