Jobless Claims Fall By 35,000, Draghi Vows To Do “Whatever It Takes” To Keep EU Together:
Unemployment claims for the week ended July 21, 2012 fell according to Labor Department today. Applications for jobless benefits fell by 35,000 and this was positive news for estimates of the unemployment rate in July. Jobless benefits claims have moved in July within a higher range than in prior months recently, falling 35,000 and rising 25,000. There is no evidence yet that the change in unemployment will drift downward and the rate has remained above 8 percent for 41 consecutive months. Jobs growth has occurred at a modest pace of 75,000 for the last few months but slight gains could move the unemployment level marginally down.
Mario Draghi Vows To Do “Whatever It Takes”
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi made clear today that he was willing to do “whatever it takes” to keep the EU together. His comments were strong, demonstrative and reassuring. Markets jumped early on the news today but gave back some of the gains by noon. The market re-rallied by the end of the day, tipping back over 200 points for the Dow Jones Industrials as traders looked forward to the Fed Reserve Bank July 2012 meeting expecting positive comments from the Ben Bernanke regarding liquidity.
Financial stocks led today’s gains as traders anticipate more easing measures worldwide based on two days of speculation via Draghi and a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday that claimed the Fed could move on QE3 as early as next week. We expect to hear more headlines similar to this in the next few weeks before the election and are bullish in the medium run. Monitoring the financials may be more important than watching tech earnings based on the reports that have been lackluster from Apple and Zynga.
