(as of 7:00 AM PST)
A stellar jobs report has set off a wave of activity. The economy added a whopping 295,000 jobs last month in spite of bad weather across most of the country. The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5% from 5.7% the prior month. The dollar is soaring against all other global currencies because the US economic recovery is surging while other countries are fighting growth deflation and attempting to emerge from recession. The markets initial reaction to the positive news was negative because it certainly appears that arguments for delaying interest rate increase are melting away. It looks more likely that a June interest rate hike is in the cards. Commodities are getting clobbered by the strong dollar with gold off 2% and oil down as well. Almost lost in the news is the impending bond purchase program of the European Bank soon to kick off. The new financial stimulus program is likely to juice markets in the short term. Fears of the effects of an interest rate increase are like overblown and, as cooler heads prevail, expect markets to surge.
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