On Friday, U.S. stocks fell ending one of the most volatile weeks of the year as economic concerns resurfaced amid rising oil prices, rising unemployment, and a huge quarterly loss at General Motors Corp.

Nonfarm payrolls fell by 51,000 in July, the seventh straight month in July, while the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate jumped to 5.7%, a four-year high on Friday.

For the week, major indexes were flat: The Dow lost 0.4%, while the S&P gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq finished about where it was a week ago.

Wall Street started off the month of August with a down note as rising oil and larger than expected loss from General Motors rekindled worries about the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 50 points, or half a percent, to close at 11326.32, below the bear mark. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each lost 0.6 percent and managed to stayed out of the bear territory.

Earnings key names reporting next week include FNM, HUM, TM and APC on Monday. CSCO, DUK and PG report on Tuesday. AIG, FRE, MMC, S, TWX and RIG on Wednesday. Thursday’s reports include BRL, SRE, and WMB.

The Fed will meet on Tuesday and expected not to take any action on interest rates and the meeting is expected to be uneventful.

Crude oil will remains as a top catalyst for stocks and a spike or big move down could set the trend for stocks.

Volatility will be expected, as the debate continues over whether the market is forming a bottom or further retest the July lows.


“The fact that equities are being sold down, despite the lowest interest rates in recent history, simply means that the market doesn’t see growth ahead for very many businesses” - John Malone

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