Succinct Summations of Week’s Events 3.4.16 (+ weekend reads)

It's time for everyone's favorite post -- the week's summary, courtesy of Barry Ritholtz.  At the top of the list of course is the much feted jobs numbers in Friday's news with employment data not only coming in much higher than expected, but prior months' figures being upped as well.  This Sunday's bonus is Ritholtz's heralded weekend reading list.  And at the top of that list is this week's most intriguing piece of opinion from Barron's, "Trump or Clinton: Who's Better for Investors?"  (The answer may surprise you.)  I would also urge everyone to take a good close look at the S&P history chart at the bottom, in which the index's biggest 1% daily moves dating from 1928 to 2016 is all laid out in one very crisp little chart.  Isn't it also interesting to note that most of these big moves happened right before a major economic boom?  2016 is one of the years that we've had a big 1% move.  Who knows?

Succinct Summations of Week's Events 3.4.16 - The Big Picture

Succinct Summations of Week’s Events 3.4.16

March 4, 2016 4:30pm by Barry Ritholtz

Succinct Summations for the week ending March 4th 2016

Positives:

1. Nonfarm payrolls came in at 242k, well above the 190 expected. Prior two month’s revised upwards as well.
2. ADP private payrolls came in at 214k, up from the 205k previously and above the 185k expected.
3. Construction spending rose 1.5% m/o/m.
4. ISM Non-manufacturing came in at 53.4, slightly better than expected.
5. Factory orders rose 1.6% m/o/m.
6. Unemployment held steady at 4.9%.
7. Initial jobless claims came in at 278k, the 4-week average rose to 270.25k.

Negatives:

1. PMI services index fell to 49.7, the weakest reading since the government shutdown in 2013.
2. Pending home sales fell 2.5% m/o/m.
3. Average hourly earnings fell 0.1%, down from the 0.5% previous gain.
4. Markit Economics’ manufacturing index fell to 51.3, its third lowest reading since October 2012.
5. ISM Manufacturing index rose to 49.5, but has remained below breakeven levels since September.
6. The MBA mortgage composite index fell 4.8% w/o/w.
7. Nonfarm productivity fell 2.2% q/o/q.
8. Chicago PMI came in at 47.6, the third month in a row below consensus.
9. Bloomberg’s consumer comfort came in at 43.6, the first reading below 44 all year.

10 Weekend Reads 3/5/16 - The Big Picture

10 Weekend Reads

March 5, 2016 6:30am by Barry Ritholtz

Pour yourself some Danish blend, settle into your favorite chair for our longer-form weekend reads:

• Trump or Clinton: Who’s Better for Investors? (Barron’s)
• In Search of the Perfect Recession Indicator (Philosophical Economics)
• A Fireside Chat With Charlie Munger (MoneyBeat)
• Complexity theory and financial regulation (Science)
• Five Pieces of Conventional Wisdom That Make Smart Investors Look Dumb (CFA Institute)
• This Lawyer Is Hollywood’s Complete Divorce Solution (Bloomberg)
• Curiosity update, sols 1218-1249: Digging in the sand at Mar’s Bagnold Dunes (Planetary Society)
• The Plot to Take Down a Fox News Analyst (NYT)
• Ask the aged: Who better to answer questions about the purpose of life than someone who has been living theirs for a long time? (Aeon) see also I helped eight people end their lives. By the time you read this, I’ll have ended mine (Toronto Life)
• Liberal, Harsh Denmark (NY Review of Books)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Darren Walker, President of the $12B Ford Foundation.

Number of S&P 500 1% Daily Moves in First Two Months of Year

Source: Bespoke Investment Group