NEWS
Stocks Jump On Lukewarm Jobs Report

The major indexes experienced their worst week in a year, but bulls battled back to close us green for today, at least. However, tariff fears and economic uncertainty continue to rule the day. With earnings season mostly over, investors are finding little to focus on besides the daily swings in geopolitics and economic policy. 👀 

Today's issue covers the latest economic updates, the S&P 500’s quarterly rebalance, and more from a wild day (and week) on Wall Street. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 9 of 11 sectors closed green, with utilities (+1.86%) leading and financials (-0.53%) lagging.

And here are the closing prices: 

ECONOMY
Jobs Data & Powell Presser Add Confusion 😵‍💫 

Those hoping for February’s nonfarm payrolls data to give a clear indication of where the labor market is headed were left sorely disappointed. Even as other leading indicators show signs of a continued slowdown, the bears did not get the “ace in the hole” they sought.

Instead, February’s 151,000 jobs were slightly lower than the 170,000 expected but above a downwardly revised 125,000 figure in January. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.1% as labor force participation slumped to 62.4%. 📊 

Average hourly earnings were up 0.3% MoM and 4% YoY, slightly missing estimates. However, the labor market remains tight enough to keep wage growth above inflation’s rate, but not so tight that prices get out of control again.

It was a “good enough” jobs report with something for bulls and bears, especially with Jerome Powell saying that the Fed doesn’t need to be in a hurry to adjust rates.

Meanwhile, Trump’s tariff plans continue their wild turns. Today he suggested that tariffs on Mexico and Canada could go even higher than the 25% amount currently in place (and paused just yesterday). 🤦 

The markets can deal with bad news, but they cannot deal with uncertainty. And right now, there is too much uncertainty.

Stocks battled back to close off the lows, but sentiment remains bearish into the weekend. Even Crypto investors were disappointed by today’s “White House Crypto Summit,” which lasted just 21 minutes. How’s that for a catalyst… 🙃 

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