hammer strike
Dave via Flickr
Markets are getting antsy ahead of tomorrow's big jobs number.
First the scoreboard:

Dow: 13,206, -61.9, -0.4%

S&P 500: 1,391, -10.7, -0.7%

NASDAQ: 3,024, -35.5, -1.1%

And now the top stories:
  • Markets were in pretty good shape this morning.  French and Spanish bond auctions went smoothly. As expected, the European Central Bank announced no change in the benchmark interest rate. During the post announcement press conference, ECB president Mario Draghi signalled that any new near term action by the bank would be unlikely.

  • U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to to 365k from 392k last week.  Economists were looking for 379k.  It's good news like this that has contributed to the return of bullishness in the stock market.  Even SocGen's uber-bear Albert Edwards seems to have stopped picking on the U.S. for the time being. Today was also the highly anticipated comeback of controversial bull David Bianco, who slapped a 1,475 year-end target on the S&P 500. 

  • But there was some bad news.  The little-followed Challenger Layoffs Report said planned job cuts jumped 7.1 percent in April.  However, it was the disappointing ISM services report that sent markets instantly into the red.  The April Non-Manufacturing Index fell to 53.5 versus economists' estimate of 55.3.  Stocks never recovered. 

  • The stock of the day was definitely Green Mountain, which slashed guidance and wrote down inventory. Hedge fund titans David Einhorn and Whitney Tilson were the big winners in this trade.