Stocks Pop on Jobs Data; Gold, Silver Smashed Again

Was there ever any doubt?

After a volatile week, stocks staged a huge run-up on Friday - the second-best advance for the Dow this year - after the non-farm payroll report from the BLS showed a gain in employment of 175,000 jobs for May.

The number, always an important one - or so we're led to believe - was really of the Goldilocks variety: not too hot to encourage tapering by the Fed, and not too cold to actually show weakness in the US economy. The BLS delivered a number that was "just right" and it was off to the races, right from the opening bell.

Stocks finished near the highs of the day, but for the week were less impressive. The Dow closed up 133 points for the week, but that was six points below Monday's close. The NASDAQ added 133 points, while the S&P was up 12. The 10-year note closed out at 2.17, a somewhat scary number, the highest in more than six months.

Whether the day's gains were due to the employment figures or the fact that it was a Friday - a day in which stocks have shown a great propensity to fly, with or without wings - is one for the theorists to argue.

The question is where do stocks go from here, as they are smack-dab in between all-time highs and a nasty little bottom from the middle of the week. In normal times, one would expect a retracement to re-test the lows, but these are anything but normal times.

Gold and silver were beaten down once again, this time, silver being the main target of the central banks, sending gold's shiny cousin to its worst closing level since September of 2010, though it needs to be pointed out that the spot price no longer correlates to the actual price of acquiring physical metal, that being currently around $28-30.

WTI crude oil continued its relentless ascent toward the $100/barrel mark.

The games continue.

Dow 15,248.12, +207.50 (1.38%)
NASDAQ 3,469.21, +45.16 (1.32%)
S&P 500 1,643.38, +20.82 (1.28%)
NYSE Composite 9,356.91, +96.41 (1.04%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,600,646,875
NYSE Volume 3,439,967,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4318-2217
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 204-41
WTI crude oil: 96.03, +1.27
Gold: 1,383.00, -32.80
Silver: 21.74, -0.964