Friends

Well, that was a hot mess. The morning began with a very strong non-farm payroll number as 179,000 new jobs were created in May vs. the expected 80,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.35%. Average hourly income rose nicely for the month at 3.4% over the past year. I heard a clever line today –“it’s been feared that AI would cause job losses, but today job gains caused AI losses”. The better-than-expected employment number helped send bond yields higher. But the big meltdown occurred in the tech sector sending the Nasdaq down more than 4%. All the high-flying chip and AI stocks crumbled under the hot lights today. Gold was down sizably and bitcoin and the crypto universe continues to deteriorate. The bears may have been disappointed by yesterday's action, but they had to be almost giddy with what transpired today.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 695 points to finish the day at 50,866. The S&P 500 was down 200 points to close at 7,383. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down a whopping 1,121 points to close at 25,709. Gold was down $162 to trade at $4,342 per ounce, while oil was down $2.72 to trade at $90.32 per barrel WTI.

I have been wondering where all the money is going to come from to buy the shares of a nearly 2 trillion-dollar company next Friday, and maybe we found out the answer today. Anyway, the bulls have had there way for months now. Is it time for the bears to have a little fun? Only time will tell, but with the expectation of SpaceX coming public next week, we are likely going to see a wild ride next week. Time to make sure you have your seat belt buckled firmly and your arms and legs safely inside the ride. We’ll be ready to bring it all to you next week. Stay tuned.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jim