The Market Glance for August 1st: AIG Gears Up

A new month ahead means new trading opportunities for investors. Traders would like to forget about the last week in July. After hitting record highs, stocks seem to have stalled the last few sessions heading into the new month. Driving that stall was so-so data. The numbers just didn’t justify the current trajectory of the market.

We’ll know this week whether or not investors were right. A new month brings plenty of key data points. And as next week is the first week of August, we’ll get a lot of them right now. This includes key unemployment measures, manufacturing data, and consumer heath figures.

Adding to the fun is the continuation of the so-called earnings season. Only about half of the firms in the S&P 500 have reported, so there will be plenty of stocks still announcing this week. And so far, the reports have been mixed. That could put a lid on potential gains this week.

All in all, investors may be in for another less than stellar week of returns.