(Lee Siler) - Stocks dropped four straight sessions last week to end down around 2% among the major averages. Considering we've rallied for seven consecutive months, this two week pullback may look less ominous than it is. It's ironic that this pullback started just before we start 3rd quarter earnings season.

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(Lee Siler) - Today the Fed starts their two-day meeting. The speculation is that the Fed will likely leave the Fed Funds Rate near 0% for a while longer. Obviously, inflation will be watched and combated when it starts to rear its ugly head.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks rallied big yesterday, as Wall Street is still buzzing about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments. The Fed chief announced that this recession is "likely" over. Recent economic data has suggested that the economy is stabilizing, but the question is how much growth we can expect in the short-term? The good news is at least the economy should not contract any further.

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(Lee Siler) - This may not sound like much, but it doesn't take much to change market sentiment, especially when much of Wall Street is expecting a pullback.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks got hit yesterday, as we start the worst period for the market. It's no secret that based on history the stock market performs its worst during the month of September. So it should've been a surprise when the major averages sold off from start to finish on the first day of the month. I've been expecting this pullback for several weeks now. But, investors continued to buy shares despite and economy that is still on unsure footing.

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(Lee Siler) - Last week the major averages treaded water, but the sentiment was changing. Despite a plethora of good economic data, the stock market was unable to gain any ground. In fact, there were several sessions where the market rallied right out of the gate, but by the end of the day was barely above the Mendoza line. In my opinion, this is a sign that the market is getting tired and the buyers are fading. What's more, the overseas markets have been correcting for weeks. China took a 20% hit a few weeks ago before rebounding slightly. However, overnight the Shanghai Index tanked almost 7%.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks look to build on last week's gains, on comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Bernanke said on Friday that the economy is on the verge of recovery. Obviously, this has been a long painful process that started with the decline in housing. The good news is that also on Friday, a report showed that existing home sales came in better than expected. According to some economists, this is an element necessary to make a full rebound.

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(Lee Siler) - The market is poised to open significantly lower on a plunge in the Chinese markets. Overnight the Shanghai stock market dropped almost 6% and the major indexes in Europe were all down roughly 1.5%. Today's move is a follow from Friday's negative consumer sentiment numbers.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks dropped for the second consecutive day on heavier trading. After four straight weeks of gains, the market is at risk of ending the week with losses, as the Fed concludes its two-day meeting this afternoon. This Fed is expected to leave interest rates alone, but it's the language the Fed uses that will be scrutinized. It's likely Ben Bernanke and Company will say that the economy is on more secure ground and the worst is probably behind us.

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(Lee Siler) - A surprisingly strong jobs report helped stocks jump more than 1% on Friday and more than 2% on the week. The unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped from 9.5% to 9.4% for the month of July. This news was clearly welcomed by investors, as well as President Obama, who said, "The worst may be behind us." Jobs were the one element in this bottoming process we hadn't seen until now.

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