The big macro can cause big moves in the market. What does today's headline macro news mean for your portfolio?
What's happening: Human resources and payroll specialist ADP
In plain English, please: U.S. employment has had a tough time recovering since the financial collapse and recession. That should be news to no one but the fellows from the Geico commercial who live under rocks. While 110,000 jobs added during October may not be enough to make a serious dent in the 9.1% unemployment rate, it at least shows a meaningful increase. Better still, it's above the 100,000 that economists were expecting ADP to report.
While ADP's release seems to be helping fuel the market's rally today, most investors tend to put their focus on the payroll numbers released by the government at week's end. Current expectations for that report are that total payrolls expanded by 85,000 in October.
Stocks to watch: Roughly 70% of the U.S. economy comes from consumption spending, and so when consumers don't have jobs, it's trouble for the economy. Of course, more specifically, it's trouble for a broad range of businesses that rely on consumers -- everything from auto giant Ford
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