Last week’s news was mired by weak earnings projections, very poor housing data, financial reform fears, and concerns that Hurricane Alex could enter the Gulf region and cause BP to abandon efforts to plug the spill. That’s a lot of broad bad news to absorb, and in doing so, the S & P fell back into the middle of the recent trading range of the past month-and-a-half. Earnings for Q2 haven’t been all that bad, but the fear of a double dip has companies bracing for a slowdown in Q3. That probably means they won’t be hiring new workers, and that doesn’t bode well for a longer-term sustained recovery. However, it does mean their balance sheets will stay “lean and mean”. The negative data on housing are bound to continue and it will take months before we see the pace of non-stimulus supported sales. As for the financial reforms, what was given to Obama to take to the G-20 meeting over the weekend should be viewed as the “worst case scenario”. As we move to a full vote, some of the language may get watered down, or at least that is what the banks are hoping for. That’s why we saw a solid pop in the Financials on Friday. Hurricane Alex veered left toward Mexico, which should be good news for the Gulf. Technically, the market is broadening out the consolidation pattern. We have a lot of data to absorb this week. The most important numbers will be the ISM Index on manufacturing and the Employment Report on Friday, especially the private sector jobs within.