Stocks opened higher as nonfarm payrolls were better than expected, and there were significant upward revisions in the prior two months. Unemployment rate ticked higher to 7.9 percent. Private sector growth at 184,000, well above expectation.
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The dollar rose (improving jobs makes more QE less likely, which means less printing of money, and an improving economy is positive for the dollar in general), and gold dropped below $1,700 to the lowest level in two months.
New Yorkers have been remarkably good natured dealing with the after-effects of Hurricane Sandy, but the patience is wearing thin...gasoline outages, power outages, two to three hour commutes into New York, and a shockingly high death rate (40 in New York City) now has tempers flaring. It better improve better over the weekend.
Elsewhere:
1) IPOs: talk about timing! Restoration Hardware priced 5.1 m shares at $24 a share, the top end of the $22-$24 price talk. The company went private in June, 2008 in a deal with Catterton Partners. It's a good week for anything with the word "Restoration" to go public, but beyond that the timing is right longer-term, since housing has rebounded.
As for the price, this IPO has followed the same pattern as many others this year: keep the size small so the demand is high.
You doubt me? How about this: two other IPOs, both Master Limited Partnerships, of tiny energy companies, are both significantly larger in dollar terms than RH: Delek Logistics Partners priced eight million shares at $21, high end of the $19-$21 range. Southcross Energy Partners priced nine million shares at $20, middle of $19-$21 range.
2) The weather has turned colder in New York, a trader friend of mine said he walked by a Decker Outdoor store in upper Manhattan and there was a line to get in to get the firm's well-known UGG brand. What's odd is that the stock has been pummeled all year, going from roughly $75 in February to $29.70 today, largely on the belief that the UGG brand is over. Today Jeffries resumed coverage with a "buy," saying UGG "is far from dead," arguing that Google search trends interest in UGG remains roughly at the same levels as 2007-2009.
—By CNBC's Bob Pisani
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