Exchange traded funds (ETFs) finally found some news they can get behind and the Dow hit a 52-week high. President Barack Obama has promised to sign into law a bill that promises to stoke job growth in the United States.
The jobs bill would give a temporary payroll tax holiday to companies that hire unemployed workers. There’s lots of skepticism that the bill will actually do much to generate jobs, but optimists think it could lead to as many as 250,000 jobs by year-end. About 8.4 million jobs have been lost since the recession began, however, so it could be just a drop in the bucket.
Inflation is still tame, evidenced by the wholesale price decline of 0.6% last month. The Federal Reserve plans to keep interest rates low, although we might see some steps to bring monetary policy back to normal by the end of the year. Overall, the decline in the Producer Price Index was led by a 7.4% drop in gas prices, while food prices rose 0.4%. Gas prices are now on the way back up. United States Gasoline (NYSEArca: UGA) is up about 0.7%. [Oil and Gas ETF Plays for Rising Energy Prices.]
The World Bank is all but begging China to slow down, urging its government to take steps to cool the economy and stave off inflation. The country’s growth is expected to accelerate to 9.5% this year. China has been doing what it can, ordering banks to step up their reserves and exiting stimulus measures that had been put in place. iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (NYSEArca: FXI) is up nearly 2% this morning. [Play the Chinese Yuan’s Fortunes with These ETFs.]
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.