What’s Happening In The World Of Business and Finance:
Consistency…
The job numbers from Friday was an early Christmas present, full of consistency as the economy added 100,000 jobs or more for 3 of the last 4 months. Below is a recap of the NFP (Non-Farm Payroll) report released early Friday morning.
- The U.S. economy generates 203,000 jobs in the month of November.
- Unemployment rate fell from 7.3% to 7.0%; mostly, this was due to the return of federal workers after the government shutdown in October.
- Unemployment rate was the lowest since November 2008.
- Hiring was strong across most industries including transportation, manufacturing, health care and construction.
- October’s job number was trimmed from 204,000 to 200,000.
- September’s job number was raised to 175,000 from 163,000.
KJ’s Take… I am a big fan of consistency. The key to a successful overall recovery is consistently creating jobs. If people have a job, they spend money, period.
Spinoff…
On Friday, Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) said that it had filled the paperwork, with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) to spin off its Lands’ End (LE) clothing business as a separate company. The company plans to distribute the newly formed Lands’ End stock to Sears’s shareholders. Sears purchased Lands’ End, the catalog/internet clothing and home goods company, in 2002. The official date has not been announced; however, analysts think that it will most likely be before the end of
the year.
KJ’s Take: The spinoff should allow Lands’ End to shine as a separate company, away from the dim lights of Sears and its 27 quarters of sales decline.
We Do Not Fix Flats…
Last year Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (HTZ) acquired car-rental rival Dollar Thrifty last year. In an effort to make “All Things Equal” The Federal Trade Commission sought forced Hertz to sell off its Advantage Rent a Car brand, making it a new, independent competitor. That took a detour when Advantage filed for bankruptcy protection just months after a final government settlement allowing the merger. On Monday, Advantage is scheduled to go up for sale at a bankruptcy auction in Mississippi. The sale could muddy the company’s prospects as a strong competitive force in a $24 billion industry dominated by three main players: Hertz, Enterprise Holdings Inc. and Avis Budget Group Inc. Oh no good deed goes unpunished…
In The Markets:
Asia:
Asian markets started their trading week off in the green. Encouraging job numbers from the US, good trade data from China, and a weaker yen had investors ready to buy.
Europe:
European markets closed higher on Friday after US jobs data surprised to the upside and provided evidence the world’s largest economy is recovering.
US:
The S&P and Dow Jones snapped their five day losing streak on Friday. The Dow Jones closed up triple digits as investors reacted to the home run unemployment numbers for November. DJIA: +198.69 16020.20 NASDAQ: + 29.36 4062.52 S&P 500: +20.06 1805.09
In Dinner or Drink:
South Texas Snow
2 oz. Malibu® coconut rum
2 oz. Malibu® pineapple rum
3/4 oz. 99 Bananas® banana schnapps
8 oz. Sprite® soda
Fill up a blender with ice. Add the Malibu, Malibu Pineapple, and 99 Bananas and blend. Last, add Sprite. You don’t have to add all of it; you can add it to taste, depending on how strong you want your drink. This can also be served on ice, but then it would be Melted South Texas Snow
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