Stock Market News: U.S. Payroll Data Sinks Stocks
The U.S. stock market is extending yesterday’s losses today as the latest U.S. payroll data comes out. The data is worse than expected, and that is causing a great deal of worry for investors. Indeed, the employment data is just another sign that worries of a recession are still warranted.
To me, it seems that every couple of weeks we get into an optimistic mood, one in which someone proclaims that “the worst is over.” But then we run into fresh troubles. The reason behind this is explained at MarketWatch:
“The 6.1% unemployment rate is not good, we were expecting 5.7%. Unemployment is substantially lower than past bear markets. The flip side is you can take pain in small increments or all at once, and we’ve decided we can’t take the pain of all of it at once,” said Roberts, who believes the current bear market could be more shallow, but last longer, than previous downward cycles.
Personally, I’m not sure this is a good thing. If we were forced to deal with the pain all at once, the immensity of it just might force us, collectively as an economy, to make some of the serious changes that are needed. As it is, we sort of just limp along, hoping that our band-aids and low-level painkillers will help us out. Really, though, in the long run I think it will only make things worse, since it allows us to perpetuate the habits that got us here in the first place.
Do you agree? Do you think some big pain would shock us into better action? Or do you think that spreading it will ultimately lead to a smaller overall impact?
Disclaimer: I am not an investment professional. Nothing in this piece or on this Web site should be construed as investment advice. Before making investment decisions, do your own research and/or consult with an investment professional. All investment comes with the risk of loss. You are responsible for your own investment decisions and any loss that may result from your decisions
Tags: stock market, stock market news, investing blog, recession,
economy, investments, U.S. payroll data
September 10th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
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