Labor Day - September 5, 2011I hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend. I'm finishing up some nice vacation time and getting ready to return to what promises to be a busy and important month of September.
Many investors think the real test for the market begins this week when Wall Street returns to work. As we have talked about for some time now, business leaders and institutional players I speak with continue to express their lack of conviction in the market because there is no leadership or cohesive plan from Washington. People are trading on news, and big corporations aren't investing for the long-term because they don't know what the tax, regulatory and economic environment will ultimately look like.
The market finished a very volatile August with a few up days early last week, but Thursday and Friday were down on renewed concerns about the health of the economy. Friday's employment report showed that job growth remains weak. There was essentially no growth in August, and the overall unemployment rate stayed at 9.1%.
The lack of job creation remains a primary concern, and that leads us right to a couple of big events to watch in September. One of them is this week. On Thursday, President Obama is scheduled to speak to Congress to present his plan to rev up the economy and spark job growth. And then two weeks later, everyone will be watching the Federal Reserve's meeting and whether another round of quantitative easing is launched.
September is shaping up to be a critical month in the markets. I will be following these stories extremely closely and let you know what I'm hearing.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.
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