Jobless claims hit 194,000. That is near the lowest level since the 1960s.
The 1960s. Back then, people smoked on airplanes and called it a personality. Now they hold onto their jobs like it's the last lifeboat.
The headline calls it a "low-fire trend." Companies aren't firing. They're just staring at employees and hoping they quit. It's called strategy. It has a PowerPoint.
Retail traders will read this and make one of two decisions. Buy because the economy is strong. Sell because the Fed might get nervous about a strong economy. Both groups will lose money by Thursday.
I don't care about the number. The number doesn't care about you. Your 401(k) doesn't care about either of us. It's a very honest family.
Here's what I know. A chart is a chart. Claims go down. Claims go up. Some guy named Kevin on a financial network points at a line and says "resilient." Kevin has said "resilient" 4,000 times. He has never once been fired for it.
The people filing are 194,000 humans who, last week, had a desk. Now they have a login to a state website that crashes under load. Somewhere a retail trader is calling that "bullish."
The labor market is tight. Everyone is employed. Everyone is exhausted. Everyone is one reorg away from a laminated box.
Buy the dip. Sell the rip. Get fired in 1964, when it was apparently harder to do.
The economy is so strong that your boss can't fire you, and you still can't afford a house.
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