July 29, 2013 9:25 am 0 comments Views: 3

Courtesy of Daniel Sckolnik, Sabrient Systems and Gradient Analytics

If you simply try to tell the truth you will, nine times out of ten, be original without ever having noticed it. C.S. Lewis

Wall Street presently seems to be in a sideways state of mind, with the major indices traveling predominantly horizontal these last couple of weeks. Not a surprise, really, as the news cycle has been relatively tame and the current earnings season has largely followed the predicted script.

So for investors, the question is whether the market is consolidating for a push into yet another round of record highs or simply running out of steam and veering towards the inevitable correction.

And, with a busy week on tap, including yet another Fed meeting, the release of second quarter domestic GDP numbers, and another large chunk of earnings reports from SP 500 companies, the year’s bullish uptrend gets yet another opportunity to be tested, and the consolidation-vs-reversal question gets yet another look.

The SP 500 Index (SPX) had a losing week for the first time in a month, though just barely. The benchmark index shed a mere 0.03% over the course of the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) inched into the black as it ended up 0.1%. The Nasdaq (COMP) won the performance battle among the three indices, up 0.7% for the week.

Across the pond, recent data regarding the Eurozone may indicate that there are signs of life worth considering from an investor’s point of view.

Last week’s Eurozone PMI index, a key regional business survey that serves as a de facto reading on manufacturing health, revealed the first growth in the index in over 18 months.

In addition, there are increased expectations that the region’s upcoming Economic Sentiment Indicator will show an increase for the third month running.

Finally, there has been the slightest improvement in the region’s staggeringly high unemployment rate, which remains at over 25%. Still, the investment community can only regard any reversal in those bleak numbers as a positive.

These are, admittedly, no more than breadcrumbs upon the trail back to recovery for the shared-currency union. However, for investors that have been looking for indications the region might finally be emerging from several years of recession, it might be enough to serve as a call to action