Stocks Up On Friday And For The Week, Making It 4 Weeks In A Row

Market Moves You Need to See Stocks Up On Friday And For The Week, Making It 4 Weeks In A Row [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Up On Friday And For The Week, Making It 4 Weeks In A Row [Stocks Up On Friday And For The Week, Making It 4 Weeks In A Row]Image: Bigstock Stocks closed higher on Friday and for the week, making it 4 up weeks in a row for the big three indexes. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way on Friday, followed by the S&P, after Thursday's better than expected earnings from Meta and Amazon. Meta soared by more than 20% on Friday, with Amazon gaining 7.87%. Aside from earnings, the other big news came Friday morning with the Employment Situation report. Stocks were already trending higher in pre-market trading, but then gave those gains back after a significantly better than expected jobs report. The idea being the stronger the economy, the longer the Fed might wait to cut rates. Stocks were muted at the open, but then quickly turned higher as the robust jobs market underscores the strength of the economy. And as long as inflation keeps going lower, which it has, rate cuts are not in jeopardy. Friday's jobs report showed 353,000 new jobs were created in January (317,000 in the private sector and 36,000 in the public) vs. the consensus for 170,000 (142,000 in the private sector and 28,000 in the public). The unemployment rate stayed the same at 3.7%, coming in under the estimate for 3.8%. And the participation rate was unchanged at 62.5%. Average hourly earnings, however, were up more than expected at 0.6% m/m vs. last month's 0.4%, and views for 0.3%. On a y/y basis wages were up 4.5% vs. last month's 4.3% pace, and expectations for 4.1%. Adding to the surprise were upward revisions to previous months with November adding an extra 9,000 jobs, bringing the total to 182,000, and December adding 117,000 more jobs, bring the total to 333,000. This is a departure from previous revisions which have mostly been down. In January, the biggest job gains came from the following industries: Professional and Business Services added 74,000 new jobs; Health Care rose by 70,000 jobs; Retail Trade increased by 45,000; Government employment was up by 36,000; Social Assistance jobs grew by 30,000; Manufacturing added 23,000; and Information gained 15,000 jobs. The stronger than expected labor report definitely caught many by surprise. But again, as long as inflation keeps going down, and wages don't start trending back up, the Fed is still expected to cut rates. And all of that is bullish for stocks. In other news, Factory Orders ticked up 0.2% m/m vs. last month's 2.6% and the consensus for 0.4%. And Consumer Sentiment rose with the index coming in at 79.0 vs. last month's 78.8 and views for the same. The year-ahead inflation expectations, which is also part of that report, was unchanged at 2.9%, the same as last month and in line with the consensus. The market has been on fire. After a killer November and December, January lit it up. And February is off to a fantastic start. Although, none of this should be much of a surprise given the statistical trends of the 4-year Presidential cycle. Remember, the 4-year Presidential cycle shows that year 4 (that's this year) is the second-best year of all four years (second only to year 3 (last year), which is the best year of all four years). Last year was one for the record books. And this year could very well be one too. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. See you tomorrow, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research [Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?]( Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. 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