Once the economic downturn ends, Kodak expects annual revenue and earnings per share growth of 5 to 7 percent. Piper Jaffray's Belski has been advising clients to anticipate a recovery in the economy and to purchase cyclically sensitive stocks most likely to benefit in an upturn, including aluminum shares, paper companies, chemical makers and mining companies. Economic influence On the economic front, factory orders increased 1.8 percent in March, exceeding expectations for an increase of 1.5 percent. Orders for new aircraft jumped 24.4 percent and orders for ships soared 936 percent, the Commerce Department said. Investors were given a broad look at the economy in late trading.
Investors now turn their attention to the pace of U.S. job growth.
Friday sees the release of the April non-farm payrolls report. The U.S. economy lost 86,000 jobs outside the farm industry in the previous month. Economists are expecting the world's largest economy added about 15,000 new jobs on the month. The Labor Department will also release the unemployment rate and the change in average hourly earnings for April. See economic calendar.