Alongside Intel Corp.'s fattening goose is a November non-farm payroll report that is only half of expectations. Wall Street, however, appears to have found the glass half-full by interpreting the news as an incentive for the Federal Reserve to hold off on interest rate hikes.

As usual, the household survey of employment, criticized by some as less reliable but increasingly recognized to record job creation that payroll reports can't possibly identify, is bullish at 483,000 jobs created in November. Unemployment fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.4%, matching analyst expectations.