Morning Market Thoughts
Good morning. Stocks are opening lower today as the Labor Department reported that jobless claims dropped by 1,000 last week. That’s good news for 1,000 folks who were able to keep their jobs, but bad news for the 253,000 who actually did file for unemployment. But here’s the thing — “less worse than expected” takes us closer to talk that the Fed is going to hike rates. Personally, I don’t think that’s gonna happen, but it is widely known that one of the best tools that the Fed has is the market’s fear that it might hike rates. Whether it actually does so is another question altogether.So, in a way, this little pullback is healthy for stocks because we want to see them go up….and down. When they just go up with no respite, the unbalanced move ultimately tips over and a lot of traders get hurt. All of this notwithstanding…I suspect we’ll close higher on the day. Tina is still a force to be reckoned with.
If you watch the market all day, I suggest that you narrow your focus a bit. There are so many different areas to be tracking, why not narrow your focus? Check in with the forum. Look at the “Trending” stocks on the right side of the page and you’ll see the stocks that are being discussed. You can see which ones are higher or lower (green or red), and the % of the move. Hover over the ticker and you’ll see a real time chart. You can click on the ticker and narrow the forum posts down to only those posts discussing that ticker.
When you use this forum tool, you are leveraging the power of the crowd. Many eyes, keeping track of many things. And the ones garnering the most attention are the ones that show up. You can do this at any time of the day. It’s the equivalent of having an army of scouts — scouring the horizon for stocks of interest. Check out what they’ve been looking at, and act accordingly.
Pay attention to the biotech stocks that were covered last night. The sector is moving higher today, and it’s looking like money is starting to trickle in.
See you in the forum.
Dan
Market Update