Yemen, jobs and April Fools': What to watch next week

Yahoo Finance

It’s Friday on Midday Movers which means it’s time to ask our panel what they think will be moving markets, or at least making news next week.

Fighting in Yemen continues and should again be in focus next week.
Fighting in Yemen continues and should again be in focus next week.

Middle East turmoil

Akiko Fujita will continue to keep an eye on the situation in Yemen. We saw tensions there send crude prices higher here at home earlier in the week. Fujita notes that some reports suggest Saudi Arabia may send ground troops into the fray and Egypt is hinting they may join the fight as well. The Associated Press is reporting this afternoon that warships from both those countries have moved into Bab al-Mandab strait, a key strategic location between Yemen and the African nation of Djibouti.

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March jobs report
Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli will be keeping an eye on the jobs situation ahead of the monthly Labor Department report due out next Friday. “It’s unusual,” Santoli says, “because the markets are going to be closed for Good Friday. We’re going to have...this jobs number hit into a trading vacuum. Probably a good thing. It’s not considered to be the highest stakes jobs number. The trend is pretty much in place.”

Santoli also has some interesting trivia on the tradition of shuttered markets on Good Friday and the creation of the Federal Reserve. You can check that out in the video above.

April Fools' Day
Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer will be watching something much different. “Next Wednesday, I want to tell all of you some very important news, President Barack Obama will be announcing that he’s going

President Barack Obama waves to a group of people before he speaks at Lawson State Community College, Thursday, March 26, 2015, in Birmingham, Ala. The president talked about the progress to financial systems and economic policies. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
President Barack Obama waves to a group of people before he speaks at Lawson State Community College, Thursday, March 26, 2015, in Birmingham, Ala. The president talked about the progress to financial systems and economic policies. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

to step down,” Serwer says, before quickly clarifying that next Wednesday is of course April Fools' Day and the President is indeed staying right where he is.

“I’m going to be watching out for April Fools,” Serwer says,” because people are going to be doing that kind of stuff in the newsroom all day I’m sure.”

As all three of our panelists note, in the modern digital age, April Fools' Day has gotten rather sophisticated. While everyone should be aware of the day next Wednesday, it’s important to note that jokes and hacks, both good natured and malicious, can move the market.

On April 23, 2013, the Associated Press’ Twitter account was hacked, and a tweet suggesting the White House was under attack and the President was injured was posted. The Dow dropped 140 points, the S&P 500 lost an estimated $136.5 billion in market cap, bond yields fell and the U.S. dollar took a hit as well.

Everything snapped back after the tweet was quick proven fake.

Stay on the lookout next Wednesday, and don’t get taken for a ride!