A No Win Situation

Economic data came in well today, but stocks are lower nonetheless on this eve before the critical monthly jobs report. Unfortunately, this is a no-win situation, in which a good number just draws more concern about the Federal Reserve raising rates and ending asset purchase programs. A bad number would drive fear as well, but worry would be focused on a Fed that seems detached from reality… until an eventual Fed assertion of dovish policy (we pray). Find our reports daily at the blog.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Market ETF	June 6 at 1PM	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	-0.4%	+12.8%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	-0.5%	+13.7%
PowerShares (Nasdaq: QQQ)	-0.7%	+9.8%

Economic Events

The Challenger Job-Cut Report showed announced corporate layoffs dropped for the third consecutive month in June. Layoffs dropped to 36,398 in May, versus 38,121 announced layoffs in April, 49,255 in March and 55,356 in February. This report certainly does not challenge the economy and was initially uplifting to stocks Thursday.

Weekly Initial Jobless Claims decreased by 11K in the week ending June 1, falling to 346K, down from a revised prior week count of 357K. However, the 4-week moving average for this figure increased by 4,500 through the period, rising to 352,500, because a much lower number dropped out of the average.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, a weekly measure of the consumer mood, was unchanged last week at -29.7. The index was around its highest level in five years, but still 10.7 points off where it was measured 10 years ago. It’s up 7.9 points over the last year. Still, I believe consumers are not generally in a good mood, because a large portion of the consumer confidence reflected in data is based on future hope, versus the less positive consumer view of things today. Such flighty faith is easily lost, as those of us who follow these data points know. As a result, they can fail quickly and fall hard, so they also offer a false comfort level for those basing investing decisions upon them.

The Quarterly Services Survey provided data on the IT services sector today. That includes more than just technology though, with data measured from businesses varying from professional, scientific and technical services, administrative & support services, and waste management and remediation services. In the first quarter, these revenues were unchanged against the fourth quarter watermark. However, the fourth quarter was revised lower, with revenues now said to be up 3.0% in Q4, versus 3.2% when initially reported.

The day’s Fed speakers included Fed Governor Raskin and Philly Fed President Plosser.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	CLOSE	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	-1.2%	NIKKEI 225	-0.9%
German DAX	-1.2%	Hang Seng	-1.1%
CAC 40	-1.0%	S&P/ASX 200	-1.1%
FTSE 100	-1.3%	Korean KOSPI	-1.5%
Greek ASE	-0.9%	BSE India SENSEX	-0.3%

The European Central Bank (ECB) issued monetary policy Thursday, and after cutting rates at its prior meeting in May, it kept rates steady this month. You may find Mario Draghi’s prepared statement here.

The Bank of England (BOE) kept rates unchanged as well today and maintained the same level of its asset purchase program. Neither the BOE nor the ECB surprised anyone in their decision making this month.

In other related news, G-20 finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in St. Petersburg. Also, European leaders are discussing the roadmap for Europe in Helsinki, Finland.

Commodity Markets (12:41 PM ET)

WTI Crude	+1.3%
Brent Crude	+0.6%
NYMEX Natural Gas	-3.7%
RBOB Gasoline	+0.9%
Gold Spot	+0.8%
Silver Spot	+0.7%
COMEX Copper	-1.5%
CBOT Corn	+0.6%
CBOT Wheat	-0.8%
CBOT Soybeans	-0.4%
ICE Cocoa	+2.5%
ICE Sugar	+0.3%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	-1.4%
CME Live Cattle	+0.4%

The EIA’s Natural Gas Report covering the period ending May 31 showed working gas in storage increased by 111 Bcf. Stocks were 616 Bcf less than last year at this time and 69 Bcf below the five-year average for this time of year.

Corporate Events

Many retailers are reporting their monthly chain store sales for the month of May today. Lower gasoline prices impacted Costco (Nasdaq: COST), costing it in May, as its same-store sales were short of Wall Street expectations at plus 5%. The SPDR S&P Retail (NYSE: XRT) is down 0.4% at 1:00 PM ET, indicating retailers are not faring so well.

Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) will be added to the Nasdaq 100 Index today, replacing Perrigo (Nasdaq: PRGO) there. Look for analyst and investor meetings at Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC), FEI (Nasdaq: FEIC), Visa (NYSE: V), Seaspan (NYSE: SSW) and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).

EPS reports are due from J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM), Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN), Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN), Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK), RealD (NYSE: RLD), Bio-Reference Laboratories (Nasdaq: BRLI), Comtech Telecommunications (Nasdaq: CMTL), Conn’s (Nasdaq: CONN), Cooper Companies (NYSE: COO), Fairway Group (NYSE: FWM), IDT (NYSE: IDT), Mad Catz Interactive (NYSE: MCZ), Mitcham Industries (Nasdaq: MIND), Rally Software (Nasdaq: RALY), SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC), Titan Machinery (Nasdaq: TITN), UTi Worldwide (Nasdaq: UTIW) and Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.