Reply #4: Commodities Slide for Fifth Day as Oil, Silver Drop; U.S. Futures Advance

[Pale Blue Dot]

Commodities tumbled for a fifth day, led by oil and silver, on concern economic growth is faltering. U.S. stock index futures rose, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may gain for the first time in five days.

The S&P GSCI index of 24 commodities fell 1.2 percent at 6:50 a.m. in London, bringing this week’s decline to 11 percent, as oil lost 1.8 percent in New York and silver sank 4 percent. S&P 500 index futures gained 0.3 percent, and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.2 percent. The five-year Treasury note yield rose one basis point, while the yen weakened against all but two of its 16 most-traded counterparts.

An unexpected increase in U.S. jobless claims yesterday, swelling energy inventories and a strengthening dollar are spurring investors to scale back bets that drove up the S&P GSCI index by more than 20 percent this year through the end of last week. American payrolls probably cooled in April as companies curbed spending, economists said before the Labor Department releases figures today.

“The broader question in markets is how deep the risk correction will be,” Kit Juckes, London-based head of foreign- exchange research Societe Generale SA, wrote in a report today. “The mood remains edgy and a shock in payrolls, in either direction, could trigger weakness in equities and equity-related currencies. It’s been a long one-way trend and a one-day correction would be very surprising.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-06/asian-stocks-drop-after-biggest-slump-in-commodities-since-2009-yen-falls.html

I have a feeling that IF the unemployment numbers come in worse than expected, this could be a very bad day on Wall Street. If they come in better than expected, everything could rocket right back up again.