NFP Aftermath

 | Sep 05, 2016 12:45AM ET

Friday night’s NFP report missed headline expectations, strengthening the stance of Fed doves uninterested in a September interest rate hike.

USD Average Hourly Earnings m/m: 0.1% v 0.2% expected.
USD Non-Farm Employment Change: 151K v 180K expected.
USD Unemployment Rate: 4.9% v 4.8% expected.

(The August 5 release was also revised up to 275K from 255K.)

A close miss, but a miss none the less. And in an environment where hawks were looking for a stellar number, I don’t think this is going to be good enough for a September hike.

I can’t seem to find it behind a paywall now, but I read a NYT piece during my morning commute that said something like ‘while the NFP number missed it’s headline expectation, it was close enough to allow US traders to head to the Hamptons for the Labor Day weekend.

Wouldn’t that be nice…

Normally I’m all about identifying opportunity heading into a news release and then using the re-pricing that follows to collect home run type trades. In Friday’s blog however, we identified the fact that there would most definitely be action aplenty surrounding the release and had this to say about taking a trade into it:

“Tonight’s release is going to have major implications to both the long and short side. This isn’t the type of release that has a clearly overstated bias that is set up for disappointment in one direction. For me here, trying to pick a direction with the risks on both sides of the market as they are, just isn’t worth it.”

US Dollar Index Hourly: