The Traderszone Network

Crude oil prices continue to march to new highs for the year and those ultra-safe European bond yields are rushing upward from the zero line with alarming speed.

Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, dropping the average over the past month to the lowest in 15 years, indicating companies are holding on to workers. Jobless claims increased by 3,000 to 265,000 in the week ended May 2, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 47 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected 278,000. The dearth of applications for unemployment benefits shows demand remains strong enough for employers to maintain staffing levels.

Markets

• What does “quite high” mean in relation to stock valuations?

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Stocks opened toggling between narrow gains and losses in rising trade Thursday. The Nasdaq climbed 0.2%. The Dow Jones industrial average fought to a 0.1% gain, while the S&P 500 remained a fraction in the red. Volume rose 9% on the Nasdaq and was 15% higher on the NYSE compared with action at the same time Wednesday.

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Orexigen shares slim down after it and its licensing partner receive a dreaded Paragraph IV certification challenge. Are things truly dire for Orexigen?

If there is one thing more worrisome for the world’s central planners than a stock sell-off, it is a bond rout ‘proving’ that they have lost control. The overnight carnage across global bond markets appears to have triggered someone (or someones) to step in – in dramatic size – to rescue bonds and save the world once again.

Rescue Me!! (Futures prices)

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If Tesla were to raise over a billion dollars, bears and critics would be hard pressed, CNBC’s Jim Cramer says.