The potentially market-moving jobs report hits Friday morning, and "Fast Money" traders debated how to play the results.
The U.S. Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report for May is expected to show roughly 164,000 job gains, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. A strong number could give the Federal Reserve the ammunition it needs to raise interest rates this summer.
Traders discussed how they would play both good and bad results.
Jobs beat
Nonfarm payrolls of 190,000 or more could signal the Fed is ready to raise rates, contended trader Brian Kelly. The central bank's policymaking committee next meets later this month, followed by another meeting in July.
In that situation, he would buy the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund to bet on dollar strength. Trader David Seaburg agreed that the dollar could rise "if you get that signal that there's going to be a move."
Trader Dan Nathan added that he would sell the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund. If the dollar strengthens, many multinational consumer staple stocks would take a sales hit, he said.
Jobs miss
If the jobs number comes in below 110,000, gold could rally, Kelly said. He would play it through the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF, which has already climbed 66 percent this year.
Beat or miss
Trader Steve Grasso contended that the gold miners ETF or the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund would work whether jobs beat or missed expectations. He said they would make safety plays in the wake of a bad report. But both funds also rose after the last rate increase, in December.
Disclosures:
Steve Grasso
BA, CC, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX Kids Own: EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY, Stuart Frankel & Co Inc. and some of its Partners: CAH, PHM, TEVA, AAPL, UAL, TOL, LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, IBM, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, NXTD
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, US Dollar; he is short Australian Dollar, Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, Yuan Short
Dan Nathan
Long PFE Long TWTR, GE long May 28 puts XHB long June put spread IWM long Sept 100 put XLB long June put spread XLF long May/ Sept Put spread HYG long June put spread XLK long Sept Put spread FXI long aug put spred SMH long aug put spread, KO june / aug put calendar, long UA call calendar, long PYPL call calendar, long TLT Sept risk reversal, XLV july calls, MSFT june/july put spread
David Seaburg
Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc