A Holiday From Labor

Matthew Maguire, a machinist, first proposed the Labor Day holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the CLU (Central Labor Union) of New York. Others argue that Peter J. McGuire of the AFL (American Federation of Labor) proposed a Labor Day in May 1882, after witnessing the annual labor festival in Toronto, Canada. Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday in 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, 30 U.S. states officially celebrated Labor Day. Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. Fearing further conflict, Congress made Labor Day a national holiday in just six days after the end of the strike. 

The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York was preferred over the more widespread International Workers' Day (May Day or May 1 in more than 80 countries) because President Cleveland was concerned an observance on the latter date would be associated with the nascent Communist, Syndicalist and Anarchist movements that, though distinct from one another, had rallied to commemorate the Haymarket Affair on International Workers' Day. John L. Lewis started the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) trade union, in 1932. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders, including leaders of the CIO, to swear they were not Communists. That provision in the act was later found to be unconstitutional. The CIO merged with the AFL to become the AFL-CIO in 1955.

from Threes, Chapter 8, “Threes in Business and Technology ”  

The Big Three Economic Indicators

By Jim Graham

Traders are always trying to understand the factors that cause the market to rise and fall. The truth is that there are a multitude of factors, and millions of investors make decisions that impact the market every day. Corporate earnings and news, political news, and general market sentiment can all move the market. But economic factors have the most influence on long-term market performance.

There is a lot of economic data available on the US economy, and almost every day some economic report or another is being released. When reading these releases I always try to assess the importance of each item and how it fits into the current economic situation. For the most important reports, especially those that may impact an industry that contains companies you are trading, it is often better to not rely solely on the analysis offered by financial journalists but to look at and try to understand the original sources.

Of all the economic indicators, the three most significant for the overall stock market are inflation, gross domestic product (GDP), and labor market data. I always try to keep in mind where these three are in relation to the current stage of the economic cycle. That gives me a framework to work with that allows me to estimate how any individual piece of economic data may affect these three indicators, and to then project its probable effect on the stock market as a whole.