Friday's price action put a cap on what has been a stellar week for stocks. The main indexes scored solid gains today as bad-news-is-good-news jobs data more than offset a negative reaction to Apple's (AAPL) earnings report.
Starting with the monthly payrolls report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning said the U.S. added 150,000 new jobs in October, well below the 170,000 expected by economists. Employment figures for both August and September were revised lower, while the unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.9%. The data also showed that wage growth – a key measure of inflation – slowed in October, to 4.1% annually vs September's 4.3% increase.
