Evening Briefing For September 21st

* MARKET THEMES FROM MONDAY: Stocks moved to multiday lows in pre-opening trading, but held those overnight lows in early trade before rallying back into the multiday range. The NASDAQ 100 Index was particularly strong, registering fresh bull market highs. Overall, however, declining stocks outnumbered advancers by nearly 1000 issues. We did not see a meaningful expansion of 20-day lows, however; that would be a bearish signal I would take seriously. Gold closed off its lows; oil was weak through the day; the U.S. dollar fell from its morning peaks; and 10-year Treasury yields finished at the upper end of their multiday range. It would not surprise me to see continued range trade ahead of Wednesday's Fed announcement. Market wrap here.

* OVERSEAS/OVERNIGHT NUMBERS: 3:00 AM CT - Italy, unemployment; 7:30 AM CT - Canada, retail sales. Earnings reports due out Tuesday can be found here.

* WORTH READING:

-- Five companies that continued to grow during the recession;

-- Fed to wait until 2011 to raise rates?

-- Constraints to further economic growth;

-- Companies at risk for bankruptcy;

-- The Fed's role in boom/bust cycles;
.