Do you ever get the impression that the economic reports cycle is much like the phases of the Moon? We drift along with a scattering of reports, sheeding little light on the market landscape, except perhaps for the laggard GDP, but generally a yawn. Half moon. New moon. Half moon again.
And then, bang!. The employment situation report shines out like a glorious full moon, dispelling the shadows and revealing contours of the economy. Market writers stretch their fingers as they sit at their keyboards, first to speculate on the impact of the new numbers, and then to describe the actual impact, which is often something entirely different. Employment week is the best week of the month, in my book.
And it has arrived, like the glorious full moon. The employment situation report will be published on Friday at 8:30 a.m. New York time, preceded by the usual private sector preview compiled by a payroll management company, the ADP employment report on Wednesday at 8:15 a.m.
Today’s Book:
The Alchemy of Finance
By George Soros
George Soros has made headlines of late as the target of a domestic terrorist, a wannabe mail bomber. Before that he periodically made headlines as one of President Trump’s rhetorical bugbears, the so-called mastermind behind the Democratic Party’s efforts to roll back Trumpism.
But far before the hyper-politicized headlines of the moment, Soros was known as one of the most successful investors in the world, an immigrant who grew up in Nazi-occupied Hungary and eventually made his way to America, where by applying his energy, logic and wits, he grew his holdings to a net worth of $8 billion, and that’s what’s left over after he donated $18 billion to charity.
Soros is the American dream come true.
As traders — all politics set aside — it is that success that we look to in our never-ending quest to learn how to trade better. Soros in 2007 wrote a book about finance and the new trends he sees shaping the core of our global economy. He updated the book in 2015 in light of the collapse known as the Great Recession, with a forward by another voice worth listening to, former Fed Chair Paul Volcker, who in the early 1980s painfully but successfully wrung runaway inflation out of the American economy.
The Wall Street Journal in a review described Soros’ book this way: “An extraordinary … inside look into the decision-making process of the most successful money manager of our time. Fantastic.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Employment week always brings a cluster of major reports, and this week is no exception.
Look for personal income and outlays on Monday at 8:30 a.m., the Institute of Supply Management manufacturing index on Thursday at 10 a.m. and international trade on Friday at 8:30 a.m.
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