* Preparation: Must Know for the Week to Come; Must Know from Last Week

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Last Week: Must Know
Last week was a big one.  While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to all-time highs (again), this time it was data focused.


Data provided, Yahoo! Finance, Charles Schwab optionsXpress

Read: 3 Simple Charts That Explain the Bull Market

The job numbers were simply huge and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%.  Here's a chart, then some commentary.


Data provided by Trading Economics

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United States added 288,000 jobs in June, up from 224,000 in the previous month. Over the past 3 months, job growth has averaged 272,000 per month. Employment growth was widespread [].

Source: Trading Economics
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Not only did that 288K number blow passed the 212K estimate, but the May number was revised up from 282K to 304K.

And better news...

More than half of 2014′s new jobs pay higher than average wage


Data provided by MarketWatch

That is a stark difference from what we had seen up until this year, where wages and wealth were lower for 90% of the American Population.


We can see in the chart above that the bull market has in fact been the greatest wealth redistribution vehicle ever. The bull market has created huge wealth for the the top 10%, 1% and even the top 0.1% while 90% of Americans ("the rest") are worse off.

But the data for 2014 with respect to wages may be a turning point.

Last Week: Phenomena We Must Know
6-26-2014
Americans are Not Participating in the Economic Recovery.

7-3-2014
Is China a State Backed Accounting Fraud?

7-5-2014
Three Simple Charts That Tell Us... Everything

Last Week: Stats Must Know
Momentum remains very high after it re-entered the market several weeks ago.

* As of Friday: 79.6% of stocks are now trading above their 50-day MA
* As of 1-month Ago: 60.91% of stocks were trading above their 50-day MA
* As of 6-weeks Ago: 40.8% of stocks were trading above their 50-day MA


Provided by BarChart.com

A little perspective is needed given those enormous gains in momentum, and here it is.  a one-year chart of the percentage of companies trading above their 50 day moving average.

Provided by BarChart.com

Yep... just at that annual high (80%) hit in August of last year.

Last Week: Must Know Headlines:
* More than half of 2014′s new jobs pay higher than average wage

* Startling news for investors, Yellen and Congress

* The real reason Americans are disgusted with government

* For most families, wealth has vanished


This Week: Must Know
This week is rather light on the economic calendar, although we must note that the United States Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank may be moving in opposite directions. While the US is cutting QE and eying rate hikes in the relatively near future, the ECB is looking to begin QE and cut rates last month.

One caveat is the UK where a housing bubble may be in effect with prices rising 26% year over year.  Expectations are for a rate hike in the UK soon, perhaps before year end.

Below you will find all that we need to prepare for the week to come

All data and images for this report are provided by Charles Schwab optionsXpress

This Week: Economic Calendar



Partial List of Noteworthy Earnings This Week
The 15 most optionable earnings events; a relatively quiet week as we have moved well out of earnings season. Here's a list of tradable (liquid) earnings events.



This is trade analysis, not a recommendation.

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