In spite of a nation which is apparently desperate to hire qualified workers, the jobs report came in quite weak. Maybe people are so content sitting on their asses at home, collecting free government welfare stimulus payments, they don’t want to bother. Or maybe the kinds of jobs that are available require skills that most applicants lack. I just cannot comprehend refusing to work, though. I absolutely love working and would kill myself out of boredom if I had to sit on my ass and just get paid not to participate. Thank God I’ve got Slope.

Anyway, the initial reaction to the lame jobs report was an explosive UP move in Gold, NASDAQ, and Bonds, and an equally big DOWN move in Interest Rates and Financial Stocks (e.g. XLF). As I’m typing this, only a little into the trading day, the drama of these moves has largely reversed or at least been tamped down quite a bit. Bonds totally reversed:

Gold absolutely ripped at first, but sputtered afterward:

The tech stocks also went roaring higher, but at one point actually lost almost all of their gain:

And small caps initially plunged on the report, but are now joining other equities in the green.