Market Commentary – 8/7/15

U.S. bond yields traded modestly higher Friday morning in response to the July non-farm employment report which added 215,000 workers. The report came in below the expected 229,000 new jobs that economists had forecasted. The unemployment rate remains at 5.30% while the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.60%. However, the jobs report was near expectations, the feeling on Wall Street is that the Federal Reserve will probably lift short-term interest rates a tick at the September meeting.

The U.S. stock market has traded miserably the last several sessions. If stocks continue their slide, this should bode well for bonds. Commodities continue to slide with oil trading near $44 per barrel.

With the 10-year U.S. Treasury trading at 2.18% and volatility remaining high, we continue to remain biased toward locking.