Friends

Today’s jobs number came in much better than expected with 130,000 new jobs created in January vs. the 55,000 expected by analysts. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3% which was also slightly better than expected. Stocks didn’t really like the news because it pretty much assures that we won’t see any rate cuts any time soon, at least while Jerome Powell is still Fed Chair. I think that a couple of cuts in the second half of 2026 is probably still likely, but the stronger the labor market the less likely the Fed pursues a dovish monetary policy.

As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 66 points to finish the day at 50,121. The S&P 500 was down a fraction to close at 6,941. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 36 points to close at 23,066. Gold was up $81 to trade at $5,113 per ounce, while oil was up $.90 to trade at $64.86 per barrel WTI.

Will the bulls be able to push stocks higher without an accommodating Fed narrative? We will see in coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Have a nice evening everyone.