subject: Stocks Under Monday Pressure:Dow - 83 at Mid Day [print this page] Labor Day cannot come soon enough, and this week will be remarkably irrelevant to Q4 for the stock market. Jr traders man trading desks and investors will watch the market for a few days and then start thinking about Holiday Plans and travel returning Tuesday in Sept. Its the same every year since 1987 as we head into October with a huge cloud hanging over October.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 75 points in afternoon trading. Broader indexes also dropped. With investors concerned about the health of the economy, money again flowed into the bond market, sending interest rates lower.
A report Monday showed personal income rose less than expected in July, adding to the string of data that points toward a slowdown in growth during the second half of the year.
"The personal income report did little to ease the nervousness about the trajectory of the economy," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments. The report did show spending was up in July, but without consistent growth in income, any increase in spending is likely temporary, Gayle said.
Investors have been focusing on employment data as a way of predicting where the economy is going. Signs of a slowdown in growth has plagued the market for more than a month. Investors are unsure if companies will be able to keep up strong earnings growth if the recovery runs out of steam or falls back into recession. And consumers aren't likely to spend more until there are clear and regular signs of hiring.
"You have to prepare for slower growth," said Mark Tepper, managing partner at Strategic Wealth Partners. "As consumer spending goes down, businesses will experience lower earnings."
Investors have been betting in recent weeks that the weaker economic reports will translate into smaller earnings that previously thought. That, in turn, has helped drive stocks lower to match the diminished expectations.
Several stocks were moving on the latest flurry of corporate news. Genzyme Corp. rose after rejecting Sanofi-Aventis SA's $18.5 billion takeover offer, while Hewlett-Packard Co. rose after saying it plans to buy back stock. Cogent Inc. jumped after agreeing to be acquired by 3M Co.
