The Big Picture - Macro Perspective on the Capital Markets, Economy, Technology, and Digital Media

Succinct summation of week’s events:

Positives:

1) US April payrolls rock as private sector leads way, Canadian jobs report rock even more

2) Both retail comps and vehicle sales in March exceed expectations in the face of continued cost of living pressure

3) ISM mfr’g falls a touch but is better than estimated

4) For most companies and consumers, commodity prices break lower, $ bounces after Trichet comments and another week closer to the end of QE2

5) Bin Laden dead

Negatives:

1) Household survey says jobs fell for 1st time since Nov ’10, unemployment rate rises to 9% as a result. I know adds confusion to payroll report

2) Slowing global growth as another key reason for commodity break as India, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam all raise interest rates, copper breaks slightly below 200 day moving average, Sensex index down 3.2% on the week, Shanghai index down 1.6% 3) China state sector weighted mfr’g PMI 1 pt below expectations

4) ISM services index falls sharply to the weakest since Aug ’10 at 52.8

5) Initial Jobless Claims above 400k for a 4th straight week