Phil Grossfield's Blog

Happy Birthday To Me! Tomorrow is my 46th birthday. Interestingly enough my brother shares the same birthday except he was born 10 years earlier…he is 56 tomorrow. For my birthday I am going on a date with my wife tomorrow night for dinner and then the Dave Mathew’s Band concert, nice! And tomorrow night my best friend is taking me out for dinner and cocktails.

You may recall my post where a puppy was left in a closed box inside a dumpster with 3 other pups, and their ears were mutilated by some sick evil person. Well, we rescued one pup and took him home on Wednesday. I’m happy to report he is a good happy and seemingly well-adjusted pup. He slept through the night and has already brought a lot of joy into our home. His brothers and sister will be up for adoption soon. I WILL LIVE WITH JOY! Here is a news story about it: Mutilated Puppy Adopted by San Diego Family.

My Schedule: I have a luncheon appointment and will otherwise be available.

My Market Watch: Jobs Report Surprises – Bonds Up – Pricing Improved. The 30-year Fannie Mae bond is trading well this morning and is up +75bps on the day.

The Jobs report was expected to come in at 175,000 new jobs and most economists and news sites expected even more. But the report came in low at 169,000 and surprised everyone. As a result, the bond trading exploded as stocks sold off. I cannot emphasize how beautiful this report is, and how timely it was needed. if you read my late in the day Market Watch yesterday then you know how important it was.

Now things will focus on Fed policy regarding QE tapering. And, with a weaker than expected Jobs Report, the question will be whether tapering is justified. Can the economy handle significant tapering right now? The days to come will be quite interesting. We have a new Fed Chairman to replace the retiring Bernanke, a potential international conflict in Syria, and Fed policy on QE tapering. For now, we are thrilled to see improved pricing this morning and a recovery of yesterday’s losses.

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