The Political Page, T+104 -- May 4, 2017

But the ads are funny. A talking head made an interesting point about millennials yesterday: it had to do with "accident forgiveness" that is now a marketing gimmick for car insurance companies. It turns out someone noted this two years ago. It also explains why so many folks are excited about "driverless cars." (Hint: think parallel parking.)

First time unemployment claims: posted.

• prior: 257,000
• consensus: 246K
• consensus range: 245 - 250,000
• actual: a huge beat -- dropped 19,000 to 238,000  
• 4-week moving average: 243,000
• it will be interesting to see how the mainstream media reports this

Buy on the rumor; sell on the news. Hope spring eternal. Bait and switch: some suggest that futures today reflect a "repeal and replace" bill in the US House. LOL.

Similarities: timing of the US House vote is like NASA launches -- "T-minus three hours and holding." I wouldn't be surprised if there's a "whether" delay -- "whether or not it's worth holding the vote."

Death spiral: Aetna will exit Virginia in 2018.