More and More to Achieve Less and Less

A little something about Friday’s jobs report going hand-in-hand with Friday’s big declines on Wall Street:

Looking at Janet Yellen’s “dashboard,” many data points weren’t positive including: declines in wages from 0.4% to 0.0%; only 1,000 new manufacturing jobs created; temporary Help came in at 29,000; retail was just 21,000 and leisure and travel was a mere 29,000 — not to mention that in combo these jobs are dominated by low-wage paying part-time work.

Plus, underemployment, the labor participation rate and the long-term unemployed numbers are still bothersome.

Overall the report is dovish for the Fed, as these data points were so weak the Fed is less likely to raise interest rates any time soon.

So, why the market decline?

Bulls are too complacent and too many sectors were overstretched.

It’s difficult, often impossible, to “time” the markets — getting in at the low and making for the exits at the high. And lord knows the Fed is willing to throw as much cash at Wall Street as it thinks it needs to conjure. But you can only pump so much fresh blood into a dying body, without providing relief to its real injuries, before it eventually bleeds out.

Lately I’ve been keeping my finger poised over the SELL! SELL IT ALL NOW! button.