|
Top stories:
Treasurys slip after jobless data, oil price jump
By MADLEN READ – August 21, 2008
NEW YORK (AP) — Treasury prices mostly fell Thursday, giving up some of their recent gains as the Labor Department reported a larger-than-expected decline in claims for unemployment benefits.
A surge in oil by more than $5 a barrel also gave investors a reason to sell Treasurys. Both the stock market and bond market have at times been nervous about rising inflation; for bondholders, the concern is that inflation devalues bonds' fixed returns over time.
The stock market ultimately shrugged off much of the rise in oil Thursday as investors focused on the financial sector.
Still, selling was limited, as last week's 13,000 decrease in initial jobless claims could not prevent the four-week average from rising to its highest point since 2001.
Other economic data that kept Treasury prices from falling very far included the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's report that August manufacturing activity contracted, and the Conference Board's index of future economic activity posting its largest drop in a year.
In late trading, the 10-year Treasury note fell 6/32 to 101 13/32. Its yield rose to 3.83 percent from late Wednesday's yield of 3.80 percent, according to BGCantor Market Data. Yields move in the opposite direction from prices.
The 30-year long bond fell 7/32 to 100 18/32. Its yield rose to 4.46 percent from 4.44 percent late Wednesday.
The 2-year note fell 3/32 to 100 26/32, and yielded 2.32 percent, up from 2.25 percent.
The 3-month Treasury bill's yield rose to 1.71 percent from 1.69 late Wednesday, and its discount rate rose to 1.68 percent from 1.67 percent.
Joel Marver, a Treasury technical analyst at Thomson Reuters, pointed out that Treasurys have had a solid run higher over the past couple weeks, and that futures contracts for the 10-year and 30-year issues surpassed their mid-July levels — giving traders a reason to cash in recent gains.
There is a "tendency of traders to book profits at advantageous points," Marver said. "The market looks tired."
On Wednesday, Treasury prices rose amid market speculation that the government will have to bail out mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Women Make Up 46 Percent Of U.S. Labor Force; Overall Earn 80 Percent Of Men's Wages
By Linda Young, AHN Editor - August 22, 2008
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - With Labor Day approaching many working women are looking forward to a day off, an estimated 71 million women of the total 120 American women age 16 years and over participate in the United States labor force - although not all of them currently have jobs.
About 68 million of those 71 million women were employed, full or part time, while the remainder were looking for work, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau.
In addition, women make up 46 percent of the U.S. workforce and according to the Labor Department's figures had a relatively low unemployment rate of 4.5 percent, although those figures were for 2007.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
Defense, space engineers in demand as boomers retire
AIA dailyLead - August 22, 2008
As baby boomers retire from defense and space engineering careers, the sector faces a hiring crisis. Many engineering graduates are choosing high-tech careers in the private sector over top-secret careers in the public sector. "It is critical that we replace these retiring engineers; this is not the kind of work that we can just outsource overseas," said the chairman of a defense industry group. Approximately 60% of the industry's work force could retire during the next 20 years, according to the Aerospace Industries Association.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
|
