Stocks Find Positive Footing

The day's economic data offered little in the way of encouraging surprises. November employment figures from Automatic Data Processing showed that 250,000 jobs had been lost that month, more than the 205,000 anticipated by economists. The October unemployment figure was revised to 179,000 from 157,000.

A November non-manufacturing index from the Institute for Supply Management registered at 37.3, substantially below analysts' prediction of 42 and down from 44.4 in October. The Federal Reserve's so-called beige book of anecdotal economic reports is due out later today.

However, revised third-quarter productivity grew at a rate of 1.3%, according to the Department of Labor. The reading was above consensus estimates of 0.9% and up from 1.1% in the second quarter.

"The jobs number is going to be the next big shoe to fall on Friday," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist for Cantor Fitzgerald, referring to the Department of Labor's November nonfarm payroll numbers. He said that the ADP data are nevertheless in line with consensus estimates for a loss of 325,000 jobs for the month, and productivity and unit labor costs showed improvement.

Pado said he foresees choppy action in stocks until the end of 2008, then an abatement of selling pressure and a January rebound. "Things don't turn around on a dime," he said.

Numerous companies on Wednesday announced changes in their business models and financial policies as the economic environment shifted. Among financial firms, The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) was thinking about starting an Internet banking business.