Stocks closed lower yesterday with all of the major indexes in the red by roughly 1% or more. Both the Nasdaq and the small-cap Russell 2000, which led the gainers the day before, led the decliners yesterday, giving up -1.90% and -1.86% respectively.

While we didn't get Weekly Jobless Claims, the Productivity and Costs report, or Wholesale Inventories, due to the shutdown, which clocked in at a record 37 days yesterday, we did get the Challenger Job-Cut Report. It showed 153,064 announced layoffs for the month of October ? the highest number of layoffs in 20 years!

You can be sure that spooked some investors yesterday.

Businesses, in aggregate, are doing well. That is evidenced by the number of companies reporting better-than-expected earnings. And forecasts for continued growth. But cost-cutting is coming at the expense of jobs. Fortunately, unemployment is low. But if the trend of layoffs were to continue, it would eventually have an impact on the broader economy given that 70% of GDP is comprised on consumer spending. And most consumers need jobs to buy stuff.

We are not at an inflection point yet. Historically speaking, we have a ways to go. But, the number was a bit concerning. The only caveat is that some of those layoffs are likely attributed to the government shutdown. And could very well result in bringing those people back on once the shutdown ends.

Let's hope it ends sooner rather than later. And definitely before the holidays.

In other news, it was reported that the Trump Administration made deals with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to cut prices on their obesity drugs. This includes prices paid by Medicare and Medicaid, and directly to consumers.

After the close we learned that Tesla shareholders approved Elon Musk's $1 trillion pay package. The milestones he must achieve over the next 10 years are mind-boggling. In short, Tesla's market-cap, which is currently at $1.45 trillion, needs to increase to $8.5 trillion. That's a 486% increase. This includes targets set for autos (delivering 20 million units), robotics (selling 1 million robots), and autonomous mobility (deploying 1 million robotaxis, and other self-driving vehicles/subscriptions). Tesla was off -3.50% in the regular session, and was up roughly 0.50% in after-hours trade.

Today we were supposed to get the always important Employment Situation report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But that will once again be delayed due to the government shutdown.

Although, we are expected to get the Consumer Sentiment report by the University of Michigan Consumer Survey Center.

As it stands, stocks are poised to close lower for the week. That will be the first down week for the big three indexes (Dow, S&P and Nasdaq) after posting three up weeks in a row.

Hopefully, the market can stabilize today. And begin building a base for the next leg up.

Q4 is the best quarter for stocks after all.

Best,