The averages are moving to their breakout points, poised to act more aggressively on a bullish employment report. Today is yet another hurdle on the jobs front. Yesterday’s ADP came in slightly better than anticipated, looking for 42,000 private sector jobs. The ISM Non-manufacturing Index was also better than expected, rising to 54.3 from 53.8 instead of falling to 53.0, as anticipated. New Orders were higher and the Employment component moved back above 50 to 50.9. Once again, we’re getting little confirmations that the jobs picture is stabilizing. Meanwhile, the economic data have been a mixed bag. Earnings were solid, but without movement, the outlook for the third quarter remains tepid. Capacity Utilization and the Average Hourly Workweek are not yet at levels that will provoke increased rates of new hires. Therefore, stability in the jobs market should be considered a good thing, for now. Today’s weekly jobless claims are expected to hold right at the 450,000 level. This is considered the inflection point between seeing net new jobs created or lost. While all eyes are on tomorrow’s employment number, the technicals are leaning in favor of the bulls. A perfect example is that the NYSE Breadth Index, the cumulative A/D line, actually made a new high. Breadth tends to lag, so we look for confirmation from this measure. It is actually leading the way, which is impressive. At the very least, it offers us more of a cushion on the downside if and when we see the much-anticipated fall pullback.