DJIA: Stronger-Than-Expected Payroll Data, Obama Urging Congress to Act to Prevent Jobs Losses, 'Occupy Wall Street' Continues

Stocks jumped this morning on stronger-than-expected payrolls data for September, which suggested the economy may avoid another recession. U.S. stocks and other global risk assets have performed well this week on the back of positive news out of Europe and solid U.S. economic data. Eurozone authorities are reportedly working on a plan to recapitalize European banks and the European Central Bank announced it will re-introduce long-term loans to banks and covered bond purchases. President Barack Obama is set to speak with U.S. Senate Democratic leaders today on a strategy for getting votes on his $447 billion jobs plan that he feels will give the economy the pick me up it needs to spark hiring. The president spoke at a press conference yesterday, urging Congress to act to prevent weaker growth and more job losses. Obama also addressed the Occupy Wall Street protests, saying the demonstrators are giving a voice to those frustrated with the financial system. Occupy Wall Street is wrapping up its third week today, with protests spreading all over the country, sparking demonstrations in Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Anchorage, Alaska, and Las Vegas. What began as a few hundred people in a New York City park, has turned into a nationwide cause, with people speaking out against Wall Street practices and economic inequality. Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the senior debt and deposit ratings of 12 British banks, including Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander UK and Lloyds Banking Group. Moody’s is concerned that the coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron would be unlikely to offer support in the event of a collapse. Both RBS and Lloyds already received huge government bailouts during the 2008 global credit crisis and are now partially state-owned institutions. Shares of RBS and Lloyds were down as much as 3.5 percent in London trading. Apple Inc is officially taking pre-orders for its new iPhone 4S starting today. The new phone, officially on sale October 14, comes in black or white and will be available on AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and for the first time, Sprint. Apple unveiled the new phone at a media event on Tuesday, just one day before co-founder Steve Jobs died at the age of 56. Let’s go over today’s economic calendar… Average hourly earnings, which measures the change in the price businesses pay for labor, is even with the forecasted value at .20 percent. Employers added 103,000 new jobs in September, but it couldn’t put a dent in the 9.1 percent unemployment rate, which was the same as the month before. Private payrolls, which exclude government jobs, rose 90,000 after a gain of 17,000 in the prior month.