Posted on 09/13/2007 7:10:34 AM PDT by Brilliant
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks opened higher Thursday after fewer-than-expected workers sought unemployment benefits last week and on a possible agreement between automakers and workers over health care costs. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 100 points.
The Labor Department reported claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 last week to 319,000 -- the sixth increase in seven weeks -- but the number was less than the 325,000 claims analysts expected. Low unemployment, at 4.6 percent, has been one of the economy's strengths.
Shares of General Motors Corp. jumped sharply after The Wall Street Journal reported that UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has said he might agree to establishing a trust fund for employee health care costs that would be run by the union. Ford rose as well.
Meanwhile, McDonald's Corp., which like GM is a component of the Dow industrials, rose after boosting its dividend.
In early trading, the Dow rose 107.79, or 0.81 percent, to 13,399.44.
Broader stock indicators rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8.59, or 0.58 percent, to 1,480.15, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.53, or 0.21 percent, to 2,597.60.
Government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.44 percent from 4.41 percent late Wednesday.
In the commodities market, crude oil prices backed off the all-time high of more than $80 a barrel marked on Wednesday. Light, sweet crude fell 37 cents to $79.54 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices fell as the U.S. dollar bounced off an all-time low against the euro on Thursday. The 13-nation currency fetched $1.392 amid expectations for a U.S. interest rate cut.
The rise in jobless claims follows last week's reading on August payrolls, which declined for the first time in four years and sent stocks plummeting amid worries that credit tightness and market turmoil had hit the labor market. But Thursday's report was temperate enough to assuage investors.
With little other economic news expected on Thursday, trading is likely to remain muted, as it was on Wednesday. Many investors are refraining from any major moves before Tuesday's meeting of the Federal Reserve; Wall Street has grown more confident the Fed will cut its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 129.7 million shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1.33, or 0.17 percent, to 776.69.
European equity markets also turned higher, recovering from earlier declines. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.93 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.60 percent and France's CAC-40 rose 0.92 percent.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average ended modestly higher, up 0.15 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.93 percent.
Or is the media just trying to make it look bad?
The U.S. economy is in fairly decent shape internally, but it's got some serious problems that make it less attractive to foreign investors. My prediction is that the employment situation will be good for the foreseeable future, but our standard of living is not likely to improve as dramatically as it has in the past.
Giving the UAW the trust fund for health care of their members is a brilliant idea. Gets the health care off GM’s books and gives the union thugs lots of cash to embezzle.
Kind of like bribing them with their own money.
OH MY GOD BUY EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! Jobless claims were almost one percent less than expected! (today)
OH MY GOD SELL EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! Job growth was less than expected! (last Friday)
OH MY GOD BUY EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! Unemployment was almost measurably less than expected! (last Thursday)
The reactions are BS, and the numbers they’re based on are BS.
The report comes from the Labor Department; take it for what it’s worth. I don’t see the negative spin on it; it looks like the standard, “everything is great” line from Washington. The new “good” coming out of Washington is “it’s not as bad as we thought it was going to be.” And stocks rally.
Jobless Claims Rise by 4,000 to 319,000 in Sign the Labor Market Is WeakeningStocks Rise on Better-Than-Expected Reading on Jobless ClaimsWASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose last week in another worrisome sign that the labor market is weakening.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 last week to 319,000. It marked the sixth increase in the past seven weeks and was a further sign that the economy is feeling the impact of a steep slump in housing and a spreading credit crisis.
The government reported last week that employers cut 4,000 jobs from payrolls in August, the first monthly job decline in four years.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks opened higher Thursday after fewer-than-expected workers sought unemployment benefits last week and on a possible agreement between automakers and workers over health care costs. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 100 points.So the 4000 new claims for unemployment is simultaneously a "worrisome sign that the labor market is weakening" and "less than ... analysts expected" with the low unemployment rate remaining "one of the economy's strengths".The Labor Department reported claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 last week to 319,000 -- the sixth increase in seven weeks -- but the number was less than the 325,000 claims analysts expected. Low unemployment, at 4.6 percent, has been one of the economy's strengths.
And the MSM wonders why people are losing faith in its integrity.
It might be noted that heating oil is near its all-time high.
RBOB gasoline also popped upward a couple cents.
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