Unemployment-squiggle-chasing

It's easy to get knocked off track if one is trying to trade wiggles and squiggles in prices, or even the general economy.  This truism was well illustrated today when the Labor Department reported applications for unemployment dropped about 5 percent last week, more than expected. 

Investors liked that news and bid up the market in the morning.  But faster than you could make any real gains, even off a trade, out came some qualifying news.  GDP looking soft this quarter.  Wiggle down.  Purchasing Managers report soft.  Squiggle lower.  By noon, the market was slightly negative.

Even on a day when there was some hot IPO news on the market, the gains by early afternoon were truly modest (Dow up 0.3 percent for the day.)

The lesson?  In this market, which is neither surging to new highs nor new lows, you've got to "buy good, sell gooder."  It requires a lot of homework and some thinking, which is why investing is a profession. 

Hence we're off to visit Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which so far has been a good-gooder-really-really-gooder story.  Truly a better use of time than watching squiggles and wiggles.

Ownership disclosure:  At the time this product was published or posted, Damon Vickers & Co. owned Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) and was “long” its common stock.