Trading Insights 8/4/25

Chart of the Day 📈 8/4/25: MASSIVE Jobs Revisions Worrying Wall Street

Mike Larson | Editor-in-Chief

Friday was NOT a good day for the markets. Tariffs take some of the blame. Plus, behind-the-scenes signs of weakness and worry were evident even before stocks tumbled (I spent last week highlighting them for you).

But the BIGGEST problem was one shocking element of the July jobs report. Let me explain…

The MoneyShow Chart of the Day here shows job creation in green, and the unemployment rate in blue. You can see that the former has been gradually trending lower, while the latter has been gradually trending higher. Wall Street has been okay with that because A) The job market was too hot previously, raising inflation concerns and B) Cooling would allow the Federal Reserve to eventually start lowering interest rates again.

MASSIVE Jobs Revisions Raise Labor Market Concerns

But it’s the black line that matters most. That shows roughly where the Labor Department had PREVIOUSLY reported May and June job creation – 144,000 and 147,000, respectively.

In Friday’s report, the government were slashed those readings to just 19,000 and 14,000. And of course, July’s tally of 73,000 badly missed the average forecast of 110,000. The data always gets tweaked to a degree, but this was shocking.

As a result, interest rates plunged…gold shot higher…and of course, stocks got hammered. So, I’ll just repeat the advice I gave before the numbers came out last week: Take some profits, lighten up, and prepare for more market volatility in these seasonally challenging months.t.

Preferred Coin’s Aspen: What’s Driving Metals and How YOU Can Participate (Sponsored)

It has been an incredible 12-18 months for precious metals – with everything from gold to silver to platinum rallying strongly. So…what’s behind the move? How can investors participate? And what should first-time investors in metals keep in mind?

For this sponsored episode of the MoneyShow MoneyMasters Podcast, I sat down with Brian Aspen, owner and founder of Preferred Coin Exchange, to get answers to those questions – and more. 

• SPX: With the Big Money Index Cooling, the Summertime Pullback Could Deepen
  👉️ TICKER: SPX

  Until recently, major indices were breaking higher day after day. But plenty of outflows have been noted recently. I suggested two weeks ago you should be on the lookout for a potential healthy Summertime pullback. Our data signals less market participation and if this trend continues, get ready to buy the dip, advises Lucas Downey, co-founder of MoneyFlows.

• COF: A Bank to Trade Amid Rising Market Volatility

  👉️ TICKER: COF

  The major indices opened with nice gains last Thursday, reflecting strength in Meta Platforms Inc. (META) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) after positive earnings reports. But the open represented the high of the day, as investors sold strength. Meanwhile, I have my eye on Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), writes John Eade, president of Argus Research.

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