REUTERS/American-Statesman/Jay Janner
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, center, and his lawyers David Botsford, left, and Tony Buzbee at a pretrial hearing to face abuse-of-power charges, in the 390th District Court at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.
It's Jobs Day. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release October jobs stats at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists estimate US companies added 235,000 payrolls as the unemployment rate held steady at 5.9%.
The Bull Case. Capital Economics' Paul Dales estimates nonfarm payrolls jumped 275,000. "There's a good chance that October's Employment Report will send a very strong signal that, despite the recent signs of some softening in overseas demand, the US economy continues to grow at a rapid pace," Dales wrote. "[T]he fall in the number of initial jobless claims further below 300,000 appears consistent with faster job growth."
Markets Are Going Nowhere. Ahead of the report, markets aren't doing much. Dow futures are up 1 point, and S&P futures are down 1 point. Most major European markets are down by less than 1%. Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 0.4%. Keep in mind that the S&P 500 closed on Thursday at an all-time high.
German Industrial Data Was Weaker Than Expected. Analysts thought production would bounce back 2% after a 3.1% drop last month, but output increased by only 1.4% in September.
Bank Of America Lost Money Last Quarter. Bank of America has revised down its third-quarter earnings by $400 million amid a currency probe that has forced it to add to its legal reserves.
The Home Depot Hack Was Bigger Than We Thought. "Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home improvement chain, said hackers stole about 53 million email addresses in addition to customer data for 56 million payment cards previously disclosed by the retailer," Reuters' Devita Krishna Kumar reported. "The company, which confirmed the breach in September, said the files that contained the email addresses did not include passwords, payment card information, or other sensitive personal information."
Auto Parts Maker Takata Got Slammed By A New York Times Article. Shares in Takata fell more than 8% on Friday after The New York Times reported that the Japanese auto parts maker had concealed the risks of potentially defective air bags.
The Cleveland Fed President Says Rates Are Going Up. The Federal Reserve will most likely raise interest rates next year because inflation, while a bit low now, remains stable and should rise to target by the end of 2016, Loretta Mester said.
Fracking Firms Are Holding Up Despite The Oil Price Crash. Suppliers of sand to drillers of oil shale and gas say demand hasn't dropped.
Symantec Is Laying Off 2,000 Employees As It Splits. Symantec, the security software company that announced plans to split in half last month, will lay off roughly 2,000 employees, or about 10% of its total workforce over the next year, San Jose Mercury News reported Thursday.