MARKET RECAP

• Stocks rallied by 0.21% in the US and by 0.89% outside the US. Bonds were up by 0.76% as interest rates on the 10 and 30-year bonds dropped.
• The US added half a 430,000 jobs in March and February was revised up to 750,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6%. Interest rates rose on the news as the numbers reflect a strong job market. Average hourly earnings were up 5.6% from one year ago. The labor force participation rate increased to 62.4%
• But while the jobs report looked good, the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Manger Index (PMI) has been slipping. The March number came in at 57.1%, down from 58.6% in February (above 50 is considered expansionary). The new-order index was 53.8%, a sharp drop from 61.7% in February.
• Biden said he would release one million barrels a day from the strategic reserve for six months to try to lower gasoline prices. Another bad move as that oil should be saved for when we really need it.
• Amazon workers in Staten Island voted to form a union.
• Most economists see a 1 in 3 chance of a recession in the next 12 to 18 months due mainly to the Fed’s not so great record in the past of avoiding recessions when hiking rates.

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