Jobless claims fall to 339K, fewest in 4 1/2 years

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid plummeted last week to seasonally adjusted 339,000, the lowest level in more than four years. The sharp drop, if sustained, could signal a stronger job market.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications fell by 30,000 to the fewest since February 2008. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped by 11,500 to 364,000, a six-month low.

The positive figures follow a report last week that said the unemployment rate fell in September to 7.8 percent. It was the first time since January 2009 that the rate dropped below 8 percent.

A Labor Department spokesman cautioned that the weekly unemployment aid applications can be volatile, particularly at the start of a quarter. And the spokesman said one large state accounted for much of the decline. The spokesman did not name the state. Continue reading "Jobless claims fall to 339K, fewest in 4 1/2 years" →

Major Averages Fall To Lowest Closing Levels In A Month

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With traders expressing continued concerns about the outlook for the global economy, stocks saw notable weakness during trading on Wednesday. The losses on the day extended a recent downward move for the markets, with the major averages falling to their lowest levels in about a month.

While most of the major sectors moved to the downside on the day, substantial weakness was visible among electronic storage stocks. The NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index fell by 3.8 percent to its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) and NetApp (NTAP) turned in two of the storage sector's worst performances, falling by 4.7 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Continue reading "Major Averages Fall To Lowest Closing Levels In A Month" →

John Williams on Lies, Damned Lies and the 7.8% Unemployment Rate

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The Gold Report: John, as Mark Twain famously quipped, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just came out with new jobs numbers that show the country added 114,000 jobs since September and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8%, down from 8.1% in August. On Shadowstats.com, you argue that the numbers are wrong and pointed to politics as a possible reason for the incorrect figures. Are unemployment statistics being manipulated and if so how?

John Williams: I normally put out a commentary on the numbers, and, in this one, I raised the possibility of politics as a factor. The problem is very serious misreporting of the numbers and the result is what appears to be a bogus unemployment rate. The BLS reported a drop in the unemployment rate from 8.1% to 7.8%, three-tenths of a percentage point, which runs counter to what is being experienced in the marketplace.

What few people realize is that the headline unemployment rate is calculated each month using a unique set of seasonal adjustments. The August unemployment rate, which was 8.1%, was calculated using what BLS calls a "concurrent seasonal factor adjustment." Each month the agency recalculates the series to adjust for regular seasonal patterns tied to the school year or holiday shopping season or whatever is considered relevant. The next month, it does the same thing using another set of seasonal factors. Rather than publish a number that's consistent with the prior month's estimate, it recalculates everything, including the previous month, but it doesn't publish the revised number from the previous month. Continue reading "John Williams on Lies, Damned Lies and the 7.8% Unemployment Rate" →

Daily Video Update: Now is the time for traders to learn the secrets of picking good markets to trade

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Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, co-founder of MarketClub with your mid-day market update for Wednesday, the 10th of October.

Today, I want to talk about finding winning trades using some tools that you have at your disposal 24/7 with MarketClub. The Trade Triangle technology can help you spot winning trades and major trend changes in over 375,000 symbols. The symbol list includes all stocks here in the US, Canada, and Australia, as well as futures, Forex, and precious metals.

In today's video, we will be examining in more detail how you can implement our Trade Triangle technology in your own trading and how easy it is to use.

QUICK TAKE ON THE MARKETS:
EQUITIES: Treading water. The trend is your friend and we are sticking to this market's major trend according to our Trade Triangle technology. We have an upside target of $1,550 on the S&P 500 sometime next year. Continue reading "Daily Video Update: Now is the time for traders to learn the secrets of picking good markets to trade" →

"The Bank Was Saved, and the People Were Ruined"

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By Jeff Thomas, International Man

The above quote is from William Gouge, commenting on the Panic of 1819. The panic had been caused when the First Bank of the United States had first expanded the money supply dramatically by offering loans, then contracted the money supply by tightening its requirements for new loans, causing a crash.

This is a useful quote, as, in its simplicity, it states the very nature of crashes brought on by irresponsible banking practices. In every case in which this occurs, it is possible through the complicity of the government of the day.

The origin of this syndrome goes back to Mayer Rothschild, a very clever fellow who, in the late 18th century, offered financial benefits to politicians in Germany in trade for political support for whatever activities his bank might practice. Rothschild was a long-term thinker; his method involved the offering of regular emoluments to politicians without their having to provide him with anything immediately. Then, when he needed a large favour, he would call it in.

Movie buffs may see a similarity between Rothschild's method and the deals made by Don Corleone in The Godfather. "Some day - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me."

Rothschild created boom-and-bust cycles which were highly profitable for his bank, but depended upon the support of the government when the "bust" part came along. Continue reading ""The Bank Was Saved, and the People Were Ruined"" →