Pay(rolls) Day

Analysts expected 845,000 new jobs from this morning’s payrolls report. They certainly got more than they bargained for. The US added 943,000 jobs in July, pushing the unemployment rate down to 5.4%. 🙌

Analysts were worried about payrolls amidst these times of uncertainty. Some thought the Delta variant would slow America’s economic recovery and stall new hiring. And then there was the third-party data: payroll company ADP reported slower hiring among private companies this month. Fortunately, their data was just one take. With payrolls today, we got a better one. 

The bulk of jobs added in July were in the leisure and hospitality sectors, which added 380K jobs. Roughly 2 out of 3 of those jobs were in bars and restaurants, one of the pandemic’s most battered industries. Unemployment in leisure and hospitality still remains higher than average at 9%, indicating there’s still room for growth. 

In other private payrolls, almost every sector rose or remained flat. Professional/business services and transportation & warehousing represented roughly 110,000 new jobs. The only loser was retail, which posted a loss of 6,000 jobs.

The report also showed an increase in hourly wages, up 4% YoY. This implies workers are being paid more, which could be the result of inflation in the broader economy or the urgency with which firms are trying to secure talent. 

Most indexes rallied on the news. 🥳

The Nasdaq’s proposal to mandate diversity requirements for Nasdaq-listed companies has been… *(drumroll)* approved. 🥁 ✅

The proposal will require listed companies to appoint at least one woman and at least one racial or LGBTQ+ minority to a director role. The Nasdaq will also require publicly-listed companies to report diversity statistics.

Board diversity requirements for businesses are controversial, but prevalent in other countries. For example: Norway, Spain, France, and Iceland mandate all company boards to include 40% women. However, research on director diversity is mixed. Some reports show board diversity improves company performance; others show no significant relationship between market performance and diversity.

Right now, over 75% of Nasdaq-listed companies don’t meet the minimum proposed requirements. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler shared:

“These rules will allow investors to gain a better understanding of Nasdaq-listed companies’ approach to board diversity, while ensuring that those companies have the flexibility to make decisions that best serve their shareholders.”

Some groups have criticized the proposal, claiming it could hinder financial performance. Some have suggested that it violates civil rights laws. Regardless, some large companies like Goldman Sachs and Microsoft have voiced their support. 🤷

This will likely be a topic of drama for a while on Wall Street and Capitol Hill. Here’s the WSJ with more.

Several airlines are struggling to keep up with travel demand, prompting cancellations and widespread travel disruptions for thousands of travelers.

Spirit Airlines is the biggest offender. The budget carrier cancelled over 1,700 flights this week—on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the airline cancelled more than half of its flights each day. Oof. According to WLRN Miami, Spirit is expected to cancel even more flights into next week. 🤦‍♀️

But Spirit wasn’t the only offender. American Airlines also called off hundreds of flights on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. However, to be fair, the cancellations represented a far smaller percentage of American’s flights. The company cited storms at its Dallas hub for delays.

Travel is making a comeback, which has recovering airlines short-staffed and stressed. According to the TSA’s passenger throughput page, the TSA screened 2,063,720 on Aug. 5. That’s a 23.7% decrease over the comparable period in 2019, but more than double the throughput observed in 2020.

$AAL ascended 2.59% this week. $SAVE sank 4.56% this week.

What a week!! Ethereum got an upgrade, Bitcoin passed $40K, and the whole crypto market is soaring to $2T. 😁

$ETH.X, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, continues to outperform $BTC.X. It could be primed for a 35% rally after the London hard fork, according to Fairlead Strategies. 

If $ETH.X can clear its next resistance level at $2,724, its next target could be around $3,356. 💰

Some experts like Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital, are so bullish on $ETH.X that they believe it could even surpass Bitcoin… and surpass it soon. In an interview, Morehead said lower environmental impact and technical upgrades will help $ETH.X outperform $BTC.X over the next few years.

$BTC.X  vs. $ETH.X— now that would be an epic battle. ⚔️