14
CHAPTER
STOCKS, BONDS, AND
THE FLOW OF ECONOMIC DATA
The thing that most affects the stock market is everything.
JAMESPALYSTEDWOOD, 1966It’s 8:28 a.m. eastern daylight time, Friday, July 5, 1996. Normally a trad-
ing day wedged between a major U.S. holiday and a weekend is slow,
with little volume or price movement. But not today. Traders around the
world are anxiously glued to their terminals, eyes riveted on the scroll-
ing news that displays thousands of headlines every day. It is just two
minutes before the most important announcement each month—the
U.S. employment statistics.
All week, stock, bond, and currency traders have anticipated this
day. The Dow has been trading within a few points of its all-time high,
reached at the end of May. But interest rates have been rising, giving
traders cause for concern. The seconds tick down. At 8:30 sharp, the
words come across the screen:
PAYROLL UP 239,000, UNEMPLOYMENT AT SIX-YEAR LOW OF 5.3
PERCENT, WAGES UP 9 CENTS AN HOUR, BIGGEST INCREASE IN 30
YEARS.237Copyright © 2008, 2002, 1998, 1994 by Jeremy J. Siegel. Click here for terms of use.