The Strength of the Market is: Strong

Stocks posted a second straight week of gains. The S&P 500 closed above 7,700 for the first time and rose more than 3% last week. The Nasdaq gained 5% and the Dow Jones added about 3% last week. It was the best weekly performance for stocks since April. The latest jobs report showed a drop of 23,000 jobs, much lower than expectations of economists. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%. With the poor jobs report, the Federal Reserve will, more than likely, not increase interest rates at their next meeting in September.

Economic reports from last week came back mixed:

•Construction Spending - lower than expectation

•Vehicle Sales - in-line with expectation

•Job Openings - in-line with expectation

•Employment (Private) - lower than expectation

•Employment (Total) - lower than expectation

•Labor Productivity - higher than expectation

•Consumer Credit - higher than expectation

•Jobless Claims - lower than expectation

This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Small Business Optimism, Housing, Inflation, Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment and Jobless Claims.