After last week had August ending with a whimper, the first full trading week of September could bring similar heartbreak for investors. That’s because investors continue to be on edge about what the Fed will do with regard to interest rates. Economic data hasn’t exactly pushed that decision one way or another.
And this week will continue to add to the nervousness of investors.
To start with, there are some very important global happenings this week. Overshadowing the week’s U.S. data events will be the continuation of the G20 meetings. Any poor speeches or insight from the meeting on how the global economy is doing could set the mood for the rest of the week.
As for that data, the shortened week still has plenty of metrics being released. Aside from the usual suspects — like unemployment claims and crude oil storage data — we’ll see measures of the service economy’s health as well as trends in consumer credit. Add that to a few speeches from Fed governors and you have a recipe for volatility.
As for earnings, the slowdown and basic end to the so-called earnings season has the number of reports hitting a trickle this week. The market won’t get any help here for direction.
All in all, investors could be in for another week — and perhaps month — of up and down trading days.
