9:25 am Tesla Motors announces it delivered 10,030 cars in Q1 of 2015, a new record and 55% increase YoY (TSLA) :
- TSLA announces it delivered 10,030 cars in Q1 of 2015, which is a new company record for the most deliveries in a quarter and represents a 55% increase over Q1 last year.
- Going forward, Tesla will publish the number of new car deliveries within three days of quarter end.
- There may be small changes to this delivery count (usually well under 1%), as Tesla only counts a delivery if it is transferred to the end customer and all paperwork is correct.
9:21 am S&P futures vs fair value: -19.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -45.00. : Equity futures closed with substantial losses, seeing a sharply negative reaction to disappointing employment data released this morning. S&P futures finished the abbreviated session lower by 19 points, compared to a gain of around 2 points prior to the data. Note that equity markets are closed today and the bond market closes at noon ET.
Digging into the data, nonfarm payrolls added only 126,000 new jobs in March, down from a downwardly revised 264,000 (from 295,000) in February. The Briefing.com Consensus expected nonfarm payrolls to increase by 250,000.
That was the first time jobs growth did not exceed 200,000 since February 2014, and it was the smallest increase since 109,000 jobs were added in December 2013.
Private payrolls increased by 129,000 jobs, down from a downwardly revised 264,000 (from 288,000) in February. The consensus expected private payrolls to add 245,000 jobs.
The disappointment goes beyond the headline.
Average hourly earnings increased by a solid 0.3% after increasing by only 0.1% in February, but those gains were offset a significant cut in the number of hours workers. The average workweek fell to 34.5 hours in March from 34.6 in February.
Altogether, aggregate earnings increased by only 0.1% in March, down from a 0.3% increase in February. A 0.1% increase in income isn't enough to support a meaningful acceleration in consumption growth.
The knee-jerk reaction to the poor jobs numbers is to blame inclement weather conditions for the slowdown, but that is not necessarily true.
First, data from February was weak across the board. Areas of the country that were not hard hit by inclement weather, like California, experienced some of the same slowdowns that were seen in the Midwest and Northeast.
Second, weather conditions in March were much more mild than February. Softer job growth should have appeared a month earlier in February.
Third, researchers from the Chicago Federal Reserve modeled extreme inclement weather impacts on economic growth and found that there were very little effects. Last year, when inclement weather was blamed for the first quarter contraction, the researchers found that the weather impact was extremely minor.
A more likely explanation is that economic growth is just not as robust as many expected. Overall demand growth remains tepid, and job growth, at least in March, matched those trends.
That said, this is only one month of data, and volatility in job growth is normal. We would wait another month or two before getting too concerned that long term economic and job growth trends are really slowing.
The dollar has weakened as the weaker data can be viewed as an argument for the Fed to be more patient with regard to any increase in rates. In turn, the bond market is seeing strength, taking the 30-yr T-Bond yield back well under the all-important 2.5% level.
European markets are closed as well well today.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6% and China's Shanghai gained 1.0%.
9:14 am MeetMe announces amendment to its mobile advertising agreement with Beanstock Media; does not expect it to affect ability to achieve guidance (MEET) :
- MEET announced it has entered into an amendment to its mobile advertising agreement with Beanstock Media dated as of December 23, 2014.
- "We are very pleased with Beanstock's performance under our new mobile ad management agreement. This amendment addresses certain technical issues we have encountered early-on and we do not expect it to affect our ability to achieve our previously provided annual guidance for 2015."
8:49 am S&P futures vs fair value: -12.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -22.00. (:WRAPX) : U.S. equity futures have seen a negative reaction to the employment report, which showed weaker than expected job growth.
March nonfarm payrolls were reported at 126,000, widely missing the 250,000 Briefing.com consensus. February nonfarm payrolls were also revised lower, to 264,000 from 295,000.
The March Unemployment Rate was in-line with expectations at 5.5%, unchanged from February. March Hourly Earnings were up 0.3%, slightly above the 0.2% Briefing.com consensus, and the March Average Workweek of 34.5 was slightly above the 34.6 Briefing.com consensus.
Equity futures have moved sharply lower in response to the data. S&P futures are now lower by 12 points (-0.6%), compared to a gain of around 2 points prior to the data. Dow futures are down 75 points.
The dollar has weakened in response to the nonfarm payrolls miss, as the weaker data can be viewed as an argument for the Fed to be more patient with regard to any increase in rates. In turn, the bond market is seeing strength, taking the 30-yr T-Bond yield back well under the all-important 2.5% level.
U.S. stock markets are closed today and U.S. equity futures close for the day at 9:15 ET. European markets are closed as well. Overnight in Asia Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6% and China's Shanghai gained 1.0%.
8:28 am Actavis confirms GILD generic Letairis patent challenge (ACT) : ACT confirmed that it has filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with the U.S. FDA seeking approval to market Ambrisentan Tablets, 5 mg and 10 mg. Actavis' ANDA product is a generic version of Gilead Sciences (GILD) Letairis, which is a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension.
- Gilead Sciences and Royalty Pharma Collection Trust filed suit against Actavis on April 1, 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware seeking to prevent Actavis from commercializing its ANDA product prior to the expiration of U.S. Patent number RE42,462.
8:22 am S&P futures vs fair value: +2.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +3.00. (:WRAPX) : Nonfarm payrolls added 295,000 jobs in February after adding 239,000 jobs in January. The Briefing.com Consensus expects nonfarm payrolls added 250,000 jobs in March.
Nonfarm private payrolls increased by 288,000 in February, up from 237,000 in January. The consensus expects nonfarm private payrolls increased by 245,000 jobs in March.
Underlying conditions were mostly unchanged in March. There was some volatility in the initial claims level, but nothing that would counter an expectation of at least 225,000 new jobs for the month.
The more important statistic, however, may be the trends in the average hourly earnings growth rate. The Fed is predicating its first rate hike on inflationary pressures. If the average hourly earnings growth rate shows no signs of acceleration, then the first rate hike would occur later in the year.
Read more: http://www.briefing.com/InPlayEq/InPlay/InPlay.htm#ixzz3WFRIaNjy
7:11 am European Markets : FTSE...Holiday......... DAX...Holiday.........
7:11 am Asian Markets : Nikkei...19435.08...+192.90...+0.60%. Hang Seng...Holiday.........
7:11 am S&P futures vs fair value: +3.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.00. :