Stocks sold off sharply in the final minutes of trading Thursday, once again showing uneasiness heading into Friday’s premarket employment situation. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 86.53, or 0.8 percent, to 10,366.15. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 9.32, or 0.8 percent, to 1,099.92, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 11.89, or 0.5 percent, to 2,173.14.

Morning Outlook

Stock futures are slightly higher, but the jobs data will surely move the direction of trading in the premarket. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 13, or 0.1 percent, to 10,365. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.90, or 0.2 percent, to 1,099.90, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 1.25, or 0.1 percent, to 1,781.50. Interesting that the rest of the world was mostly lower ahead of the data in the U.S.

The first Friday of the month, I love it. The jobs report will eventually determine if President Obama gets a second term, and whether or not we see a second stimulus of sorts. It is also a momentum shifter. You need to get people confident in their job before they will spend, whoch will create other jobs and chip away at this high rate. This will be the talk of the Christmas table like it was over the ThanksgivingIt is definately a slow and steady process for which the market does not want to see any setbacks. It is amazing, we are nearly 2 years past the start of the recession.

Currencies and Commodities

The dollar rose 0.0969% at 88.35 yen in the currency market. The euro appreciated 0.1495% to $1.5076 while the pound advanced 0.6968% to $1.6656. Gold lost $11.10 to $1207.20 an ounce, while silver declined 1.30% at $18.88. Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 62 cents to $75.84 per barrel on the NYMEX; a 0.81% decline on demained concerns as a result of the unemployment rate.

Economic Calendar

8:30 AM
Employment Situation: The employment situation is a set of labor market indicators. The unemployment rate measures the number of unemployed as a %age of the labor force. Nonfarm payroll employment counts the number of paid employees working part-time or full-time in the nation’s business and government establishments. The average workweek reflects the number of hours worked in the nonfarm sector. Average hourly earnings reveal the basic hourly rate for major industries as indicated in nonfarm payrolls. Analysts expect 100,000 jobs to have been cut in November, while the unemployment rate remains at 10.2%.

We also want to see the hourly work week creap up, and the additional hiring of temporary workers which are all signs of a laober market recovery.

10:00 AM
Factory Orders: Represent the dollar level of new orders for both durable and nondurable goods. The consensus is for a increase of 0.2% for the month of October, following a 0.9% rise in September; led by durable goods.