Evening Briefing for September 2nd

* MARKET THEMES FROM WEDNESDAY: After a sharp, high volume decline on Tuesday, we traded lower in pre-market trading and continued in a quiet range for much of the day. While it appeared that the market was attempting to stabilize after the decline, the relative absence of buying pressure ensured that we accepted value below ES 1000, sustaining the short-term downtrend. Gold traded higher through the day after an early upside breakout move; the U.S. dollar weakened in afternoon trading; and oil traded at lower levels for most of the day. Rennie Yang of the excellent Market Tells service notes a short-term bullish pattern following the weakness we've seen based upon RSI; I'll be watching for evidence of non-confirmations on weakness or distinctive buying pressure off the lows before acting on this pattern. Good source for market perspective here.

* OVERSEAS/OVERNIGHT NUMBERS: 4:00 AM CT - EU, retail sales; 6:45 AM CT - ECB rate announcement. Earnings reports scheduled for Thursday here.

* WORTH READING:

-- Nice example of an intraday volume play during a slow afternoon;

-- Valuable lessons from the financial crisis;

-- Fed notes soft consumer spending;

-- Collapsing bubble in China?

-- Comparing central bank responses to the financial crisis;

-- Difficult options facing healthcare reform.
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