The latest job report revealed that job losses have slowed, but they are still high relative to historical standards.  This is based off of the ADP National Employment Report, which is an unofficial gauge of the employment picture.  April's numbers were much better than March, but we're still losing half a million jobs per month.  And again, this is an unofficial report... I think I'll start coming out with the Unofficial Richard Savvy Jobs Report and if it's positive I'm sure people would take it into account... 

This "unofficial report" also said that unemployment is likely to rise for the next several months, but at a slower rate... so it's basically going from extremely bad to pretty bad.  Is this a good sign?  Of course it is, but we're not out of the woods yet and this euphoric buying that's going on is not warranted.  There is still too much bad news that has yet to surface. 

Unemployment and weakness in the housing market are the biggest obstacles threatening an economy... and if you don't have a job you can't buy a house... or if you're worried about losing your job you won't buy a house.  I think the majority of America is in this boat... or raft.

The Labor Department will give a report on job losses this Friday... which will give another pseudo positive look at how many jobs have been lost. 

Lately there has been a lot of confidence on Wall Street amidst bad news across many fronts.  Investors have seemed to ignore mixed earnings reports, fears about a possible swine flu pandemic and a bankruptcy filing from one of the country's largest automakers, Chrysler LLC.  This bear market rally has driven the market up more than 25 percent from 12-year lows in early March.  Be warry.  Stress test results are coming out tomorrow and could put us back at square 1... or square negative 1.  Then there's the job report on Friday...

Then Mother's Day on Sunday... go buy your Mom something nice and stimulate this economy... maybe like a house.

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