Investors remain cautious and stocks remain turbulent. The blame has been pointed to a few main topics - 1.) the continued pandemic and 2.) the Federal Reserve and their policy decisions. For September, stocks are down. The Dow Jones is down 2.2%. The S&P 500 is down 2%. The Nasdaq is down 1.4%. Later this week, we will get some clues from the Federal Reserve as to if and when they will reduce financial support to the economy.
Economic reports from last week came back mostly positive: •Small Business Optimism - better than expectation •Manufacturing (New York) - better than expectation •Manufacturing (Philadelphia) - better than expectation •Jobless Claims - worse than expectation •Retail Sales - better than expectation •Consumer Sentiment - worse than expectation This week, investors will look for guidance from economic reports like Housing, National Activity, Jobless Claims and Manufacturing.