(As of 7:16 am PST)
What a start to the new
year! After a day which saw the Dow
soaring over 300 points, investors are taking some slight profits. Stocks are mildly lower in the US, while
Asian markets extended their gains, and European stocks are mixed. Some economic reports showed several
retailers missing expectations for holiday sales, with companies like Macy’s
and Kohl’s lowering their Q4 outlook. On
the jobs front, payroll processor, ADP, reported the private sector added
215,000 jobs in December, much more than expected. The report is much less reliable than tomorrow’s
Non-farm payrolls report, which should give us the first sign of labor market
conditions heading in to the new year.
With the President having now signed in to the law the 2012 Taxpayer
Relief Act, the focus for the next two months will shift to the deficit and the
$16.4 trillion debt ceiling in the US.
