ADP’s private sector jobs report and the government’s weekly jobless claims

ADP’s private sector jobs report and the government’s weekly jobless claims indicate that the employment picture remains murky at best. The private sector was shown to have added 215,000 people to the payrolls in the final month of 2012 and weekly jobless claims rose 10,000 to close out the year. If either of those reports are any indication of what to expect when the government jobs data is released tomorrow then we shouldn’t expect much. The unemployment rate currently stands 7.7%. Market participants are dealing with what some have coined the fiscal cliff “hangover”. The only problem is, this particular hangover can’t be alleviated with greasy breakfast food, some Gatorade and a couple of aspirin. The not-so-grand bargain amounted to nothing more than kicking the can down the road as the deal did nothing to address the more important concern of government spending gone wild. This has led many to reconsider the knee-jerk reaction of the risk-on mentality that ensued yesterday. The precious complex is a mixed bag in early trading. Gold failed to hold yesterday’s gains and has slid more than .5% to start the day. The yellow metal is trading at $1677. Palladium has been the big loser thus far, sliding more than 1.25% and breaking through $700 to the downside. Palladium currently sits at $698 but perhaps auto sales figures could lend some support when they are released later today. The FOMC minutes will be released this afternoon. During the last meeting the Fed indicated it would stay the current course so long as unemployment remained above 6.5% or if inflation rises above 2.5%. Have a great day!