The Jobs Report and Other Stock Market News

Which two stocks need a win this earnings season? What trends should investors be watching? Why are Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) and Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) suddenly looking more attractive? And which CEOs are under more scrutiny?

In this  episode of Motley Fool Money, Motley Fool analysts Jason Moser and Ron Gross, with host Chris Hill, answer those questions and more, analyze the latest with Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), Pepsi (NASDAQ:PEP), Levi Strauss (NYSE:LEVI), and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), and share two stocks on their radar: Matterport (NASDAQ:MTTR)and Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VYGR).

To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool’s free podcasts, check out our podcast center. To get started investing, check out our quick-start guide to investing in stocks. A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on Oct. 8, 2021.

Chris Hill: It’s a Motley Fool Money radio show. I’m Chris Hill. Joining me this week, senior analyst Jason Moser and Ron Gross. Good to see you as always gentlemen.

Jason Moser: Hey.

Ron Gross: How are you doing Chris?

Chris Hill: We’ve got the latest headlines from Wall Street, we’ll preview earning season and some growing rivalries to keep an eye on. As always, we’ve got a couple of stocks on our radar but we begin with the big macro. Unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent but the US economy added just 194,000 jobs in September, well below estimates. Ron, at a time when companies are starting to ramp up seasonal hiring, this jobs report indicates that most every industry is in fact having trouble hiring.

Ron Gross: Yes, you nailed it. By all accounts, a worse-than-expected report, I think and I’ll get into some of those details. I think the main takeaway is that the weakness may give some cover to the Fed and allow them to continue their bond-buying stimulus program and put off the tapering of that program that so many investors are worried about for just a bit longer. The markets on Friday, they were up and down trying to digest the information as investors try to figure out if the bad news outweighed the good news of potential continued stimulus. I think we’re going to have to see how that plays out over time. Some details speaking to what you said about the weakness. The payrolls increased a 194,000 in September. That was compared to a $500,000 estimate and down from 366,000 in August. So very weak. You mentioned the unemployment rate did drop to 4.8 percent from 5.1 but this was largely due to a reduction in the labor participation rate as people permanently left the workforce. Don’t let the better unemployment rate fool you. Things are not that great. Leisure and hospitality growth, much slower than people had hoped for bringing in less than 75,000 jobs. As the economy reopens, I think we’re hoping to see that number really bump up. We saw a sharp decline in government…