This morning's closely-watched jobs report is out: U.S. employers added jobs at a steady pace and wages rose slightly in July, but millions of Americans stayed on the sidelines in the latest sign of lingering slack in the labor market.  Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 215,000. Revisions showed employers added 14,000 more jobs in May and June than previously estimated.  The unemployment rate, which is obtained from a separate survey of U.S. households, held steady at 5.3%  (WSJ)


Apple, the world's most valuable company with a $658bn market capitalization, is losing its lustre: the stock price has fallen more than 10% since mid-July.  You might ask - how does this affect the market?  Every $1 change in Apple's share price results in a .65 point shift in the S&P 500.  Long-term holders of the stock are still soundly in the black - it's up 872% since 2009! (FT)


2015 has been an unusual year for US stocks.  The S&P 500 has never been as much as 3.5% above or below its starting figure for the year, and the first and second quarters saw growth of almost exactly zero - the last time that happened was 1904.  (FT)

The US Trade gap grew 7% to $43.8bn in June, a consequence of the continued strength of the dollar.  Exports declined 3%, on weak Chinese and European demand.  (WSJ)