As expected, the theme for this week was a continuation of last week’s directionless market. Stocks continued to ebb and flow as traders looked towards the headlines for any sort of guidance. Unfortunately, there really hasn’t been too much in the way guidance from either economic data or earnings reports.
In terms of data this week, investors received some good news on the manufacturing and housing fronts. However, several other metrics pointed to less-than-positive economic results. And earnings didn’t help to set a direction either.
Many firms reporting this week ended up doing the “good beat/poor guidance and revenue” dance that has been prevalent all earnings season. Poor sales and poor forward guidance managed to steal the show and, as a result, the markets continued to drift.
Finally, with the start of the Jackson Hole Summit this week, investors were concerned about the fate of interest rates. The conference and the speech by Janet Yellen helped to ramp up the worry factor.
All in all, this week proved to be another bumpy one for investors.
