It's as if these people think that we're still in the era of the Pony Express and passenger pigeons.
Both CNN's email alert after the close of the markets today and the Associated Press's post-close report acted as if Monday's stock market gain was due to a positive momentum effect from Friday's splendiforous jobs report, which really wasn't that good at all. CNN's 4:01 p.m. email told recipients that "U.S. stocks end higher on momentum from July jobs report." AP's first paragraph at its news summary page read as follows:
LAST WEEK'S COATTAILS: Stocks were riding a tail wind of optimism from the most recent U.S. job numbers released last week and hope for more action by European authorities to address that region's debt crisis.
Please, people: Investors have long since digested the employment news. Briefing.com's narrative today, found at nasdaq.com, has not a single word about Friday's jobs report in any of its pre-market, intraday, or after-market updates.
At Bloomberg, the closest the narrative got to a jobs-related assertion was that "The S&P 500 advanced after closing last week at a three- month high as a report showed payrolls climbed more than forecast in July." That has nothing to do with causation.
It seems that the press needed an excuse to mention a supposedly good jobs report which really wasn't that good but which they've somehow convinced people really was, and took it
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
