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The bears resurfaced this week after resistance, jobs report, and the oil war put a cap on the bull's recovery attempt. Investors had jumped back into stocks the previous week after stimulus was passed by the lawmakers, but that excitement faded as job numbers were being realized and unemployment and jobless numbers were greater than expected. The 701,000 jobs lost in the March jobs report was the first net job loss since 2010 and unemployment jumped to 4.4%. But the staggering realization was that ...

US payrolls drop 701,000 in March, the first jobs decline since 2010

Nonfarm payrolls dropped by 701,000 in March, according to Labor Department numbers released Friday that begin to show the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis.

It was the first decline in payrolls since September 2010.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% as employers just began to cut payrolls ahead of social distancing practices that shut down large swaths of the U.S. economy

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Volatility remains high as Thursday's impressive rally regained about about half of Wednesday's bigger losses. We're in a period where 2% moves are minor in comparison to what we've seen, but at least the 9% to 12% moves have backed off. The Dow gained 470-points and a dramatic rally in oil was a major catalyst.

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]New month, new direction as the relief rally ended with a thud. It wasn't too much of a surprise as it seems everyone has been anticipating a possible test of the lows, but it's always interesting to see the switch from bullish behavior to bearish in such a short amount of time. The Dow lost 974-points yesterday, or 4.44%, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq losing about the same percentage. The Transports, financials, and small caps lagged with 5% to 6% losses.

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It was another volatile day for stocks on Tuesday with modest early gains turning into sharper losses by the close while portfolio managers were finishing up their rebalancing for the new quarter. The Dow lost 410-points, closing near the lows of the day and ending an historical month and quarter for the stock market.

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