Stocks surge on jobs report (12/4/15)

Stocks surged after dovish comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and a better-than-expected jobs report. 

The Dow climbed 369 points, with all of its 30 components advancing; the S&P 500 Index gained 42; and the Nasdaq rose 104. Advancers led decliners by nine to five on the NYSE and by more than two to one on the Nasdaq. Treasury prices strengthened. Gold futures added $22.90 to close at $1,084.10 an ounce. Crude oil fell $1.11 to settle at $39.97 a barrel after OPEC announced it would maintain its current output levels.

For the week, the Dow gained 0.25%, the S&P 500 Index edged up 0.08%, and the Nasdaq was up 0.29%.

In earnings news:

-       Online competition from Amazon and sluggish sales of its e-reader took a toll on earnings for bookstore chain Barnes & Noble. The company reported a net loss of 52 cents a share, versus a profit of 12 cents a share a year ago. Revenue dropped 4.5% to $894.7 million. Shares of Barnes & Noble (BKS) plummeted 16%.

In other business news:

-       U.S. employers added 211,000 jobs in November, beating an expected increase of 200,000. The unemployment rate remained steady at 5%. Average hourly earnings increased by 2.3% over the past 12 months, a slight decrease from 2.5% in October. Today’s report paved the way for the Federal Reserve to raise rates at its next meeting on December 15-16.

-       The U.S. trade deficit increased by 3.4% to $43.9 billion, according to the Commerce Department. Exports dropped by 1.4% to the lowest level in three years due to the strong dollar. The widening of the trade gap could lead to negative economic consequences in the fourth quarter.

-       European Central Bank President Mario Draghi stated that the ECB’s accommodative policy has reduced the risk of deflation and that their policies were achieving their “intended” effects. According to Draghi, "QE is there to stay. If needed, it could be recalibrated." 

*****

With $3 billion in online sales chalked up in the U.S. on Cyber Monday and $14 billion in China during Singles Day, there’s no doubt that the Internet plays a massive role in making holiday shopping more convenient. But with that convenience comes some holiday-related pitfalls.

As we shop online, Google and other ad networks are constantly gathering information about what we’re looking at and purchasing. They then take that information and customize the ads that are displayed to us on other websites. If you consider purchasing a pair of shoes on Zappos.com, for instance, those same shoes could show up in an ad on a news website you visit the next day. 

As moms and dads and significant others are shopping for holiday gifts online, these ads could potentially spoil Christmas morning. (Or, now that I think about it, needlessly get people’s hopes up. I just saw three ads for Tiffany’s on The Wall Street Journal’s website. If I find some type of small appliance or other useful gift underneath the tree instead of something sparkly, we may not have a very merry Christmas.) 

Spoilers like that are typically ok for adults. But what about for kids? Do they notice when things from their “confidential” Christmas lists to Santa start showing up on different websites?

According to a recent survey from Censuswide, the average age a child stops believing in Santa has fallen to 7.25 years old, down from 8.7 years old for the previous generation. At this rate, by 2060, the average age will fall below 3 years, which is just about the same time that a child starts to comprehend the concept (which doesn’t necessarily correlate with the age a child doesn’t scream when placed on Santa’s lap).

One in eight parents surveyed believe the Internet is to blame. 44% cited simple internet searches for raising kids’ suspicions about St. Nick, and 34% blamed online advertising. 8% said that their kids had snooped through their parents’ online search history. (I think those parents may have more to worry about than whether or not their kids think Santa is real.)

If the internet does break the news to your kids, I see two ways of handling it. One is to just come clean. Or, if you really want to drag it out just a little bit longer, “Yes, there is a Santa Claus. He just changed his name to Google.”