Broad-based strength helped stocks remain strong into the close. Investors focused on President Obama’s $350 billion jobs recovery plan. But experts caution that concern about Europe’s banks may have eased but the problems are far from disappearing. The Fed’s Beige Book report suggested the economy continued to grow between mid-July and the end of August, but with “widespread signs of a deceleration”. Various data continue to point to slower economic growth globally. Participation on the part of traders remains extremely unimpressive.
IN FOCUS: The government’s weekly report on initial claims for unemployment and the July trade balance come out before the market opens.

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility surged on economic concerns.

U.S. stocks fell Tuesday as renewed worries about European banks weighed on financial stocks. All key S&P sectors were down throughout the session, with financials, consumer discretionary, and energy stocks leading the way. Volume picked up after Labor Day when traders returned from summer vacations. ORCL jumped 5% after the tech giant hired the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, Mark Hurd, as president. Despite Oracle’s gains, most of the tech sector was in the red.
IN FOCUS: Fed Beige Book release

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility soared amid the grimmer sentiment.

Investors cheered a rare dose of good economic news last week. The advance was fueled by a rebound in manufacturing activity and a better-than-expected report on the labor market. All S&P 500 sectors were higher, led by financials, technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Google rose after a report from Reuters that the search engine giant is planning to enter the music business and compete with Apple. New Apple iPods ship this week
Volatility could rise this week and investors begin to take sides on trading levels and economic growth.

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility fell more than 8%, below 22.

Stocks fell sharply as the tone on Wall Street turned bearish ahead of big economic reports due later this week. Volume is expected to be light this week. Investors are gearing up for the government’s monthly jobs report, due before the opening bell Friday. A key problem in the market is that the retail investor has withdrawn from the market, analysts say. All S&P large-cap sectors were lower, led by financials, consumer discretionary and industrials. Intel fell 1.6% after the company inked a deal to acquire the wireless unit of German chipmaker Infineon Technologies. HPQ (+1.47%) was the only stock trading higher among the blue-chip index.

IN FOCUS: Consumer confidence before the market opens. Reports on home prices and regional manufacturing activity are also due in the morning. Later, Fed will release minutes from its most recent policy meeting.
FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility surged.

Stocks rallied Friday after Bernanke said the Fed was willing to do what it takes to stabilize the recovery.
The GDP reading came in slightly better than expected, stocks managed to end the session on a positive note, rallying more than 1% on the news. Techs and industrials were the week’s worst performers, while utilities and telecoms were the best. INTC warned that third-quarter earnings would likely fall short of expectations amid weak PC demand. Investors are looking for any little bit of a positive sign they can get in the wake of all this poor economic data. Jobs report, along with a reading on consumer confidence and more manufacturing data due next week, will either add fuel to the fire or calm some fears about an economic slowdown.
IN FOCUS: A government report on personal income and spending is due before the opening bell.

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility dropped.

Stocks finished higher, following another round of dismal housing and durable goods data. New home sales unexpectedly plummeted to the lowest level on record in July, dropping 12.4%. The bad news had been already priced in. Stocks are extraordinarily cheap and oversold at this point, but the question is, are they sufficiently cheap to discount the economic weakness. Tech stocks ended up. The sector, along with the broader market, remained on edge as the morning’s slate of economic reports added to investors’ unease about the U.S. recovery.
IN FOCUS: The government releases its weekly numbers on first-time unemployment filers.

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility slipped.

Merger and acquisition activity was treated as a bullish sign as stocks climbed almost 1%, but technical resistance sent the broader market back to the neutral line. Tech stocks fell 1.0%. Tech’s weakness was even more pronounced in the Nasdaq, which lagged its counterparts for the entire session. Economic data has been showing gradual signs of weakness there’s still an overshadowing concern that will likely keep any rally narrow and in a defensive tone. Trading volume was unimpressive amid this session’s lackluster action.

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility inched lower.

Stocks largely ended down Friday. The moves came amid light trading and continuing worries about the economic recovery and bearish action in expiring August options. The economy is desperately short of confidence and visibility and the willingness to take risk. The markets are coming off two weeks of losses as traders have been struggling to find a balance between upbeat company news and downtrodden data on jobs, manufacturing, and other economic indicators. The tech-heavy Nasdaq turned slightly higher. Semiconductors closed up 0.4% thanks to leadership from Marvell (MRVL) which reported in-line earnings for the latest quarter, and announced a $500 million share repurchase program. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) reported in-line earnings, while Dell (DELL) posted upside surprise. Most of the key S&P 500 sectors fell, led by energy, industrials, and telecom, but utilities, technology, and consumer staples turned higher.

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility slipped.

A better-than-expected housing market report tempered worries about the economic outlook. FedEx’s earnings and outlook gave the market some buoyancy. Industrials and consumer discretionary led the S&P 500 higher Monday. Tech stocks started the week off strong Monday, with many bellwethers gaining ground. Market breadth was positive. Trading volume was light – investors prefer to remain on the sidelines amid uncertainty over whether stocks will hold recent gains or if the global economy’s recovery effort is strong enough to warrant those gains in the first place.
Advancing Sectors: Industrials (+1.7%), Financials (+1.6%), Telecom (+1.5%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.5%), Health Care (+1.4%), Energy (+1.1%), Utilities (+0.7%), Tech (+0.6%), Materials (+0.5%), Consumer Staples (+0.4%)
Declining Sectors: None;

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility fell amid glimmers of economic hope.
IN FOCUS: BP (BP), Lexmark (LXK), Broadcom (BRCM) all make reports on Tuesday.

Stocks managed to climb higher last week as investors welcomed better-than-expected results from UPS (UPS), Microsoft (MSFT), American Express (AXP) and others. The overall impression was encouraging — most companies have topped expectations, though revenue hasn’t been as robust as many analysts had hoped. Tech stocks ended up with several sector leaders cutting losses as the sector rallied with the broad market following results of stress tests of European banks. Microsoft (MSFT) beat analyst estimates with its after-the-bell report Thursday but the stock fell Friday. There were companies that disappointed, such as Amazon.com (AMZN), shares lost 1%.

FEAR METER: The S&P500 implied volatility lost more than 10 percent, closing out the week below 24.
IN FOCUS: On the economic front this week, reports are due on housing, GDP, consumer confidence and the jobs market. New home sales index is due after the start of trading.