Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street brunch, our Sunday look ahead to this week's

market-moving events, along with the weekend's top news and analysis.

Hello, today is Sunday, January 5th, and I'm your host, Kim Khan.

Wall Street heads for a rare third short short, and trading week in a row.

The stock market will be closed on Thursday, January 9th, along with federal agencies,

for former President Jimmy Carter State Funeral and a National Day of Morning.

Most bond markets will close early at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, as advised by the Securities Industry

and Financial Markets Association.

While not a full week, it's a busy one, starting with the labor market.

Given the timing of the New Year's Day holiday, the December Jobs report was delayed until the 10th of the month.

In the lead-up to the report on Friday, will be the latest job openings figures in the Joltz report on Tuesday,

the ADP Private Payrolls report on Wednesday, along with the weekly jobless claim figures a day early due to federal offices being closed on Thursday. When the big numbers arrive,

economists are expecting a gain of about 150,000 in non-farm payrolls, with the unemployment

rate staying at 4.2 percent, and average hourly earnings up 0.3%. Analysts at Numura, who

expect a rise of 180,000 in payrolls,

say the survey data suggests the labor market is improving,

and we expect additional strength in the retail and construction sectors.

The unemployment rate likely moved lower, but remained at 4.2% in rounded terms.

Weakness in the household survey's measure of job finding

has not been consistent

with broader labor data leading us to expect a stabilization. A weaker print could provide some

juice to equities by giving the Fed a little more breathing room for its next cut. The recent

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