The Flinchum File

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. . . Waiting for the fat lady . . .

She will sing this Friday morning, when the monthly Civilian Unemployement Report or “Jobs Report” will be released. To the market, this is the single most important economic report each month, probably too important.

But, it is even more important this month. Yesterday, the Non-Manufacturing ISM Report indicated there was more job growth in the services sector than expected. As a result, the Dow roared upwards, almost 200 points. This morning, the ADP National Employment report was released, showing job growth in the private sector at only 20 thousand, compared to 60 thousand the market was expecting. Getting two contradictory reports in two days makes the report on Friday even more important to the market.

In addition, Friday’s report will be the last one before the all-important mid-term election. Politicians of one side or the other will make a bigger deal of this report than normal, which is already too big a deal. Since Friday afternoons are normally the most volatile part of the week, expect anything this week!