VOL. I · NO. 119 · standardpoorly.comWED · JUN 03 · 2026FORWARD HORIZON · 1 d / 1 wk / 1 mo / 3 mo
STANDARD Poorly
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StandardmacroSP-5152

Temporary Help Services Payrolls

Temp-staffing employment (BLS). Classic leading indicator — firms cut temps before permanent staff, so it turns down before recessions.

the verdict —
At the 126d horizon, this signal hits in the predicted direction 59% of fires. Mean SPY forward return when it lights: +1.24%. Status: OOS validated. n = 199. Bullish on the underlying when fired.

Current state

Latest value · 2026-04-01
2,485
vs ~6 weeks ago
10%
vs 60 days ago
12%
vs 7 days ago
0.5%
last 90 observations · 2018-11-01 2026-04-01

The series — full history

Daily readings, every reading we have. Pick a window with the time-period buttons; flip to candles via the global toggle in the masthead (or press C). Toggle the SPY overlay to see how this series and the S&P 500 have moved together.

Temporary Help Services Payrolls
2,485 -20.80 (-0.83%) over 1Y
Hover for date + value · Toggle SPY to compare relative move
3,2182,8382,4582,0781,69720052010201520212026
2005-05-01 → 2026-04-01 · 252 bars

What it has historically predicted

On days when this signal fires (deviates 2+ standard deviations from its 30-day average, in either direction), SPY has historically averaged +1.2% over the next six months, moving in the same direction as the signal 59% of the time.

56%
−0.14%
1 d
53%
+0.05%
1 wk
51%
−0.15%
1 mo
54%
+0.45%
3 mo
59%
+1.2%
6 mo
55%
−0.89%
1 yr

Beyond SPY — how this signal performs across markets

Same fire days, different forward returns. Each row asks: when this signal fires, what does that asset do? The big number is the average return; underneath is how often the asset moved the same direction as the signal (50% would be a coin flip).

target
1 d
1 wk
1 mo
3 mo
6 mo
1 yr
SPY
S&P 500 ETF
n=199
-0.14%
44% same direction
+0.05%
53% same direction
-0.15%
51% same direction
+0.45%
54% same direction
+1.2%
59% same direction
-0.89%
55% same direction
Gold
futures
n=112
+0.13%
54% same direction
-0.06%
49% same direction
-0.36%
42% same direction
-2.2%
38% same direction
-4.4%
32% same direction
-9.5%
31% same direction
Analyst · 6 moreWTI · BTC · Copper · DXY · MOVE · VNQ see the full 8-target matrix with bootstrap confidence intervals.Join waitlist →
shaded cell = each row's strongest horizon (green = bullish forward return, red = bearish)“same direction” means the asset moved the same way the signal moved — opposite of a coin flip.
Analyst · previewYou're seeing the public read on this signal. Analyst unlocks the full multi-year track record + bootstrap confidence intervals + an alert when this indicator fires. Trader adds the walk-forward backtest + intraday refresh + the API / MCP to pull this signal into Claude.Compare tiers →