The Daily Dish - July 5, 2012

Hope everyone had a nice Fourth. It was a HOT one. And then the skies opened up right around the time most city firework displays were set to go off, causing cancellations in several places.

The rain was a welcome sight to me at that point in the night. It was almost as if someone above was telling me “Blowing up a watermelon is NOT a good idea. Now go inside and go to bed.”

Best. Steak. Ever.

Every time you think this Cleveland Indians team is down and out, they rally back. One week ago today, heading into the Orioles series, the Tribe had lost five straight and looked like a 70 win team in doing so. Then they go off to Baltimore and erupt for 32 runs en route to taking three of four from the O’s. They come back home, look anemic in being blanked by Jared Weaver on Monday night, and then proceed to batter a red hot Angels team 9-5 and 12-3 to take that series.

This team has a good makeup, led by manager Manny Acta. They have a good bullpen, and there are few teams in baseball that wouldn’t trade top three hitters (Choo, Asdrubal, Kipper) with us. I really hope they address the gaping hole in left field and in the starting rotation here in July via trade (sooner the better), and don’t count on the potential returns of Grady Sizemore and Fausto Carmona Roberto Hernandez Heredia to be the saviors.

The Indians have four home games against the Rays remaining before the All-Star break. They are EXACTLY half way through the season. 81 played, 81 remaining. They stand at 42-39 and are two games behind the Evil Sox.

Quote of the Day …

“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Insane Fact of the Day …

Diet Coke was only invented in 1982.

Market …

Jobs, jobs, jobs. We’ll close this week out getting the latest empirical data on the employment situation here in America. Make no mistake, along with the lingering sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the employment numbers are what are driving and moving markets right now.

Got some data in already this morning. The ADP employment report showed that private-sector payrolls rose by 176,000 in June, which was well above the expectations of about 100,000. Separate data showed that first-time weekly jobless claims declined by 14,000 last week to 374,000, which is the lowest level in six weeks. Nothing to get giddy about, but both numbers pretty handily bested expectations. We’re not getting the reactions in early trading from the stock and bond markets we usually would, which isn’t surprising, given the holiday hangover, and also the fact that the reports come ahead of tomorrows closely watched and highly anticipated jobs report from the Labor Department. Economists are projecting that nonfarm payrolls increased by 100,000 in June, compared with 69,000 in May.

We also get ISM non-manufacturing data at 10 AM EST this morning.

Investors are also digesting moves from global central banks today. China cut interest rates for the second time in less than a month. In Europe, the Bank of England expanded the size of its quantitative-easing program, while the European Central Bank cut interest rates, as expected.

In the shortened session of trading on Tuesday before the Fourth of July holiday, US stocks closed higher after a surprise jump in the nation’s factory orders for May and as higher commodities prices boosted energy and materials stocks.

News …

~ Can Stimulating Housing Demand Cure the Economy?

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/stimulating-housing-demand-ultimately-cure-economy-says-analyst-123513788.html

~ Retailers See Disappointing Sales in June

http://www.cnbc.com/id/48078180

~ ECB Cuts Interest Rates to 0.75%, Deposit Rate to Zero

http://www.cnbc.com/id/48076325

~ China Cuts Interest Rates for Second Time This Year

http://www.cnbc.com/id/48078210

~ Bank of England Prints Money Again to Boost Economy

http://www.cnbc.com/id/48076721

~ The Day Ahead: Lots of Data Ahead of a Jobs Report Friday

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/265880.aspx

~ Ohio Ranks Near Top for Underwater Mortgages