Stock investors face big week, volatile September

Stock investors face big week, volatile September
Possible Syria airstrikes, August jobs report crowd calendar
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. military action against Syria and the August jobs report will dominate market attention in the coming holiday-shortened trading week as investors enter a September that already holds a high probability of volatility.
Stocks finished the week and month of August with losses as the possibility of U.S.-led airstrikes against Syria grew. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) finished down 1.3% for the week and 4.5% for the month. Similarly, the S&P 500 Index (SNC:SPX) declined 1.8% for the week and 3.1% in August, while the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ:COMP) closed down 1.9% for the week and 1% on the month.

President Barack Obama on Saturday said he has decided military action is appropriate, but he would still seek congressional authorization on the use of U.S. military force against Syria. Congressional leaders have agreed to debate and vote on the possible action when lawmakers return from recess on Sept. 9.

“I know well we are weary of war,” Obama said. “That’s why we’re not contemplating putting our troops in the middle of someone else’s war. But we are the United States of America, we can not and must not turn a blind eye to what happened in Damascus,” the president said in a statement delivered in the White House Rose Garden.

On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry said there was “clear and compelling evidence” that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons on his own citizens.This came the day after U.K. lawmakers voted against the use of force in Syria Thursday evening.

The focus of next week may continue to be Syria, said John Canally, investment strategist and economist for LPL Financial. Essentially, the longer nothing happens, the longer Syria remains an overhang on the market. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-invest...2013-09-01