Revised Jobs Numbers So Far Get Muted Response

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has revised jobs numbers down by 818,000. This was fairly well anticipated and is not having any immediate market impact, but it might give the Fed more cover for being aggressive with rate cuts. It may actually be a market positive rather than a negative. The indexes are hitting intraday highs as they digest the news.

I see very little trading opportunity right now and am doing little. Knowing when it's time to do little is just as important as knowing when it is time to take action. Traders tend to feel like they should always be doing something, but the real skill is staying patient and waiting for the right setup to develop. Currently we are in a market environment in which I want to see better chart development before deploying more precious capital.

We have a very overbought market with few good entry points, and we also have a major catalyst, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, on Friday morning at Jackson Hole. It is possible that the market blasts even higher on market-friendly comments from Powell, or there may be a sell-the-news reaction.

I'm a trader and not a gambler, so I'm not going to bet on Powell's reaction. What I'm going to do is react to the news. If there is a strong move higher, I'll probably reduce some positions, and if there is a move down, then I'll start looking for buys at support levels.

There isn't much I can do right now while this event is lurking. I may fool around with some day trades in penny stock names like GepVax Labs GOVX and EOS Energy EOSE, but I don't see any reason to adjust longer-term positions right now.

What is most important right now is that I feel well-positioned for whatever might happen. I still have long exposure in core positions, and I also have high levels of cash, so I can take advantage of opportunities that might develop.

At the time of publication, DePorre was long GOVX, EOSE.