Monday kicked off the trading month of May with a whimper with stocks registering minor losses despite the previous night’s news of the death of Osama bin Laden. It was another day of modest price movement on Tuesday as the dollar hit an all-time low versus the Swiss franc. On Wednesday the market suffered a more significant loss on disappointing manufacturing and private-sector jobs reports. Wednesday’s close marked the first time since October 2008 that the stock market lost ground over the first three days of the month. The decline continued on Thursday with a surprising uptick in new claims for jobless benefits weighing down stocks. Friday marked the one year anniversary of the May 6, 2010 “flash crash” that shook the markets at the time. This year, however, stocks rose moderately following a nonfarm payroll report that showed an increase of 244,000 jobs in April. Conversely, April’s unemployment rate rose to 9.0% from 8.8% in March.

Friday’s gain was not enough to erase the week’s losses, with small-cap stocks suffering much more than large-cap stocks.

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