Updated throughout the day
September 4
Good evening,
Stocks fell Friday after the job report came back mixed. The Dow fell 1.7%, the S&P 500 lost 1.5%, and the Nasdaq slipped 1.1% Friday. Oil also fell, but is still holding above $45/barrel. Nonfarm payrolls rose 173,000 last month, and unemployment fell to 5.1% from 5.3%. Economists had projected a 220,000 jobs boost for the last month. On the up side, revisions for June and July show more jobs were added than originally estimated. The job report doesn’t give a clear indication of how the Fed will react at their September meeting, but everyone is antsy for an interest rate decision. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said this morning that even though the jobs number didn’t meat expectations it is “still a strong number.” Lacker says the report didn’t chance the picture for monetary policy, and he’s still supporting a rate rise. This weekend is Labor Day in the U.S. which means markets will be closed Monday and summer is officially over and there ain’t nothing the Fed can do to change that.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Egyptian billionaire offers solution to migrants. Naguib Sawiris has offered to purchase an island from Greece or Italy to house hundreds of thousands of migrants that are currently overwhelming Europe. Sawiris says he would give the island independence and provide jobs for the migrants to make it their own country, permanently or temporarily. TIME
Good news: there’s more trees than we thought. A new study found 3.04 trillion trees on Earth, 7.5 times the amount thought to exist. On the down side, the number of trees has fallen by 46% since humans arrived on the planet. CNN
Top Democrat opposes Iran deal. Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Dem on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he will oppose the nuclear deal with Iran. Cardin’s announcement won’t kill the deal in Congress, but Cardin’s weight does hurt Obama’s efforts. Cardin says he fears the agreement would strengthen Iran in the long run. Politico
Indonesia cuts plans for high-speed train. The country has decided to ax what would have been the first high-speed train for the nation, connecting Jakarta and Bandung, because the 93 mile route was deemed too short for a high-speed train. Wall Street Journal
It was the best of times and the worst of times for hedge funds. Side by side headlines: “Hedge funds faced a test in August and faltered” AND “Some hedge funds prosper in market tumult.” Either way, investors pay 2 and 20. New York Times A and B (paywall)
Miserable week for stocks. The Nikkei dropped 7% and the Hang Seng 4.7%. The Shangai Composite, which traded only Monday through Wednesday, lost 2.2%. Friday, European markets were trading about 2% lower and heading for a negative close to the week as well.
Hong Kong PMI falls to six-year low. Weak demand, lower output, as well as one the largest and fastest workforce declines since 2003 led the Nikkei Hong Kong Purchasing Managers’ Index to fall to 44.4 in August. That’s well below its 48.2 reading in July and its worst showing since February 2009. Markit
Japanese wages miss estimates – badly. Japan’s manufacturing industry may be growing at a fast clip, but its labor market is continuing to disappoint. Labor cash earnings for the land of the rising sun grew just 0.6% in July, far below an estimated climb of 2% and even more worrisome if you adjust for inflation. It is. however, the first real wage rise the nation has experienced since 2012. Silver linings, man. Financial Times (paywall)
Iran to have final say on nuclear deal. Iran’s parliament will get the final word on approving or rejecting the landmark nuclear agreement forged with world powers in July, top Iranian officials have said, raising fresh uncertainty about the deal. Moderate President Hassan Rouhani and his negotiators have publicly fought against allowing the Iranian parliament to hold a vote. Wall Street Journal
You won’t believe this…
Died: The world’s shortest man. Nepali Chandra Bahadur Dangi has died at age 75. Dangi was 21.5 inches tall. Wall Street Journal
Japan fights ISIS with anime. Soon after ISIS took two Japanese hostages, Japanese social media responded with an Anime character known as ISIS-chan. The cute cartoon wants to spread love, and show extremists that knives should be used for melon cutting, not violence. BuzzFeed
Photo: Travelbusy.com