Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] On the bright side, the market is at the upper end of its afternoon trading range. On the less bright side, that simply means that it isn't down as much as before, but it is still down.

That is not an unnerving situation, knowing how far the market has come since April and knowing that those huge gains were padded in August.

When participants return from the Labor Day holiday, they will do so with another round of important economic data on tap. Specifically, the ISM Manufacturing Index, JOLTS - Job Openings, Trade Balance, ISM Services, and August Employment Situation Report are all on the docket.

The most important report in that grouping is the employment situation report, as a softening labor market seems to be providing the Fed some cover to cut rates at its September 16-17 FOMC meeting even though inflation rates are closer to 3.0% than the Fed's 2.0% target.