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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A bundle of bad news hit stocks hard across the board on Friday -- with the biggest blow being the August U.S. jobs report.
The jobs number came in far below expectations, confirming fears that a 9% unemployment rate might be the new normal.
Plus, Greece saw interest rates on its two-year bonds soar amid ongoing disputes over the bailout plan for the Mediterranean country and its budget deficit. The cost to insure Italian and Spanish sovereign debt rose to record highs.
But the bad news for the U.S. economy and Europe is good news for gold, which has become a leading safe-asset class over the past year. Investors consider the yellow metal the ultimate protection against a "fiat currency" crisis. Gold rose more than 2% on Friday, bringing its year-to-date gain to 32%. For the same period, the S&P 500 is down more than 5%.
The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) reached new all-time high this morning.
In tech news, Netflix (NFLX) announced that negotiations to renew a contract with Starz, one of Netflix's major content providers, had ended. Netflix shares tumbled 10% as investors doubted the video-rental company's ability to deliver the high-value streaming-video content needed to keep and expand its customer base.
These are among the popular themes Friday on StockTwits:
Legacy_Trades -- GREECE IS THE WORD - $ES_F: Talks breaking down. Couple that w/ bad data, being in a downtrend & an overdone Bear market rally, down we go.
researchpuzzler -- Gross says austerity now is "almost suicidal" http://t.co/XoUf2Ia ~ talking his book, but likely right $$
Street_Insider -- Gold surges as prospects for QE3 jumps after horrible jobs report. Gold up $51.50 to $1880.60 $GLD
alaidi -- Hearing chatter Goldman calling for Fed to announce QE3 via Operation Twist following Sept 20-21 FOMC $GS #forex $SPX $GLD $$
mikemost -- ok so Starz ends their $NFLX contract, @Netflix implements price hike and no new content/titles are added, seriously? ...http://t.co/lToqS1C
techinsidr -- Cracks starting to show in $NFLX biz model.. the disruptive biz model is now getting disrupted by content providers. 
| Fear of Iran is inflating gas prices | ||
| Economic optimism to boost stocks | ||
| Why your cell phone bill is going up | ||
| Multi-million dollar foreclosures | ||
| Million-dollar foreclosures rise as rich walk away |
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 12,938.67 | -27.02 | -0.21% |
| Nasdaq | 2,933.17 | -15.40 | -0.52% |
| S&P 500 | 1,357.66 | -4.55 | -0.33% |
| Treasuries | 2.04 | 0.04 | 2.00% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 7.95 | -0.16 | -1.97% |
| Microsoft Corp | 31.27 | -0.17 | -0.54% |
| Ford Motor Co | 12.28 | -0.25 | -2.00% |
| General Electric Co | 19.39 | 0.17 | 0.88% |
| Citigroup Inc | 32.36 | -1.00 | -3.00% |
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.91% | 3.81% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.17% | 3.13% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.87% | 2.83% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.98% | 3.89% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.27% | 3.23% |
Today's featured rates:
A series of privacy debacles has Washington stepping up its oversight. More
America's wealthiest families are now losing their homes to foreclosure at a much faster rate -- many of them are doing so voluntarily. More
Tensions over Iran's nuclear program are adding at least 30 cents a gallon to gasoline in a market that's not especially short-supplied. An attack could see gas prices above $5. More
The United States Military has been testing the alternative fuel technology in Hawaii and it could one day play a role on the battlefield. More
Cell phone bills are going up as a result of increased demand and a spectrum crunch that is limited the supply of wireless data bandwidth. More
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