Bad News Is Good News-Until It Isn't!

<p>There are days when the stock market appears to have completely lost its mind—and today may be one of them.</p><p>This morning, we learned that the United States created only 29,000 jobs during September. Economists were expecting approximately 90,000.</p><p>The unemployment rate increased from 4.1% to 4.2%. Average hourly earnings increased by only one-tenth of 1% for the month.</p><p>And then we received the revisions.</p><p>July’s previously reported gain of 21,000 jobs was revised all the way down to a loss of 10,000 jobs. August was revised from 162,000 jobs to 133,000. Altogether, 60,000 previously reported jobs disappeared from the books.</p><p>This wasn’t merely one disappointing month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics now says the economy has created an average of only 45,000 jobs per month during the past year.</p><p>So, naturally, the stock market rallied.</p><p>The Nasdaq reached a record high. Technology stocks surged, Treasury yields initially fell, and investors reduced their expectations for another Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in October.</p>