With the fumes of Jackson Hole still hanging in the air on this late-summer slow market news day, indices stayed lower for nearly the entire session, though off the daily lows. The Dow outperformed the field, but dropped -184 points or -0.57%. The S&P 500 and small-cap Russell 2000 reached -0.67% and -0.69% on the day, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dumped another -124 points, -1.02%. Nine of 11 sectors of the S&P were down, with only Energy and Utilities in the green.

We are now on pace for a negative-trading August; we looked to be in a much different place only two short weeks ago. This is the sixth time since May we’ve approached 4000 on the S&P, from either direction. If there is any good news to glean from a day like today, it’s that the lack of data — either good or bad — did not keep the bearish sentiment at or near full-throttle, like we saw Friday. It’s possible market participants feel the foolhardy dovish-Fed narrative has been wrung out of current valuations, for the most part.

It’s also fortunate that here in this pre-Labor Day calendar we will soon be getting data investors can sink their teeth into. Of course, there’s always the risk that economic prints will surprise notably to the downside, but in tomorrow’s Case Shiller home price index, for instance, we’ve already seen the biggest slowdown in rising housing prices all year the last time around, with hopes the sub-20% year-over-year reads continue to decline further. If they do, that’s good news: the Fed will see more results of its rising-rate handiwork.

Also JOLTS data is expected shortly after the opening bell, with job openings expected to come in lower than the 10.7 million than in the most recent print. This indicates positions continue to be filled, assisting already-robust employment numbers already to be bolstered by a dwindling in these openings from a sky-high 11+ million not too long ago. And, of course, we get big jobs reports on Wednesday — private sector payrolls from ADP (ADP Quick QuoteADP - Free Report) — and non-farm payrolls Friday from the U.S. government.

Thus, there look to be opportunities to re-advance if not a bullish narrative, then certainly a less bearish one. Put more simply, we have lots of chances to receive good economic news this week. These data points will further inform the Fed’s views on future monetary policy, which may indeed work their way into a somewhat more dovish decision on rate hikes three weeks from Wednesday. Put even more simply, no matter what Powell said Friday, the Fed may still choose to raise only 50 bps next month. The proof, as they say, will be in the pudding.

Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>