day trading news up-date: lunchtime in the US Session Friday

– The January US jobs report is driving equity
market gains this morning. The big increases in non-farm and private
payrolls are a welcome sign that the US economic recovery is continuing,
meanwhile the unemployment rate, at 8.3%, is at its lowest point since early
2009.

The skeptics have tried to find the wrinkles in the reports, and
apparently the only sour note is a 30-year low in the labor force participation
rate, although analysts are debating whether this is due to the long-term
unemployed or rather baby boomer retirees beginning to leave the workforce.
PIMCO’s El-Erian also pointed out that the levels of people unemployed for 27
weeks or longer and youth unemployment are not budging, indicating long-term
structural problems.

Many commentators also warned that better employment
news would make it that much more difficult for the Fed to maintain the
extended period or engage in more unconventional easing policies. In
Europe, jitters about Greece are impacting the euro and somewhat muting the
impact of better US news on European indices. In addition, Italian PM Monti’s
coalition government had its first parliamentary defeat (on a non-economic
policy issue), raising eyebrows about his ability to govern.