Trade Alert: Economic analysis and adding to a short

I can’t bring myself to fully read, much less report to you guys, what the latest “He said, she said” so-called reports from the gathering of a bunch of bank-groveling bureaucrats from a continent’s supposed central bank whose charter, mandate and authority seems to change on a monthly basis.

But the markets are up huge this morning, so let’s at least grab a headline that attempts to rephrase what I just said in the above paragraph with some gravitas:

Dow Climbs 180 Points

U.S. stocks rallied, as the European Central Bank detailed new economic stimulus measures and the labor market showed signs of strengthening.

I do think the bigger of the two economic stories there are the labor market data, which weren’t just good/better than expected, but were outright strong with some magnitude.

First-Time Jobless Claims in U.S. Fell Last Week to Lowest Level in Month

Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, easing concern the labor market may weaken in the second half.

U.S. Companies Added 201,000 Workers in August, ADP Employer Services Says

Companies added more workers than forecast in August, easing concern the U.S. job market may be stalling, a private report based on payrolls showed.

A couple hundred thousand private sector jobs isn’t exactly game-changing for the economy or anything, but it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye.

We’ve had some huge gains in our Apollo Group APOL short since we first put it on back when the stock was nearly double its current quote. The stock had been in free fall for weeks until recently when it’s finally gotten at least some sort of a bounce. I’d sold my Apollo puts for some big gains a while ago and I’m still holding my common Apollo core short position. I’m going to add a little bit to that short today, as the stock has rallied nearly 15% from its reent lows. I’m shorting some more common stock this morning, about 1/3 as much as I have already on the sheets.