Investors are approaching the week with “itchy trigger fingers”, according to chief investment strategist for Northern Trust, Jim McDonald. After last week’s housing and manufacturing data checked the market’s 7-month advance, the pits are wary going into a week set to be dominated by more reports on leading economic indicators.

The Labor Department’s monthly report due out Friday will be paramount to many, addressing concerns over unemployment. Compounding the uneasiness will be reports on industrial output, pricing, consumer confidence, factory orders and construction spending. Investors will also be watching for new outlooks in anticipation of 3Q earnings data next month, which should indicate the relative health of companies.

Last week’s losses were chalked up to poorer-than-expected performance in commodities, home sales and durable goods orders. The DJIA, S&P and NDAQ were down roughly 2% by week’s end, despite encouragement from the Fed and a seemingly rosy unemployment report showing job

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A Wild and Wacky Wednesday…FOMC leave stimulus and QE in place…Will G-20 try to throw cold water on commodities? GATA receives a letter from the Fed…And Now… Today’s Pfennig

Good day… And a Thunderin’ Thursday to you! It’s Thundering and raining here, so I felt that naming today a “Thunderin’ Thursday” was bang on! We had a wild and wacky Wednesday yesterday, with the Fed Heads playing the part of the court jester… And… I want to know, right here, right now, why the media isn’t blasting Fed Head Honcho Big Ben Bernanke! I’ll tell you why they should be, in a minute…

OK… As I said, we had a wild and wacky Wednesday yesterday, as

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Global markets have been in decline the past several trading days and many are now asking, is the rally over? If history is any guide, a correction is coming but wersquo;re not there yet. Morgan Stanley recently evaluated the performance of 19 bear markets in different countries around the world. Itrsquo;s a comprehensive list that includes the bear market in Switzerland during the 1960s, Japan in the 1990s and Australia in the 1980s among others. What they found is that the median fall from a marketrsquo;s peak is 56 percent and lasts 29 months. The Samp;P fell 58 percent over 18 months from its peak in October 2007. U.S. markets have rebounded roughly 51 percent in 5 months from March lows but the median bear market rebound is 70 percent over 17 months. This suggests the market rally still has some legs. However, Morgan Stanley discovered that 12 of 18 equity market rebounds stalled 1 ...

The current financial services melt-down has had differing effects on different companies. Dealing with the realities of the situation has become the only way that most can move forward. Some are assessing their situation while others are moving to right the issues. If there is one thing that most can agree upon; it would be that admitting to losses, making the needed moves now and working to move forward are the only ways to get back toward solid results.

E*Trade Financial Corp., an online trading concern, works to facilitate the online trading of certain financial products. In a general sense, the company is a retail company that offers the “average” person an opportunity to trade stocks and buy mutual funds. As with many financial institutions and companies, E*Trade Financial has been going through a period of adjustment. It has, however, readjusted in a significant manner and appears to be moving forward

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