Coming Week: Data Deluge

Investors expecting sluggish action during the final week of summer may be in for a surprise as a slew of heavy-duty economic data could unsettle a shaky market.

The S&P 500 has slipped 2.5% this month and the Nasdaq has spent four straight weeks in the red. But while returns are often taken with a grain of salt in this vacation-heavy month, some traders are beginning to wonder if there is more to the selloff than a mere case of the light-volume blues.

"People are starting to wonder if this late-summer decline is for real," says Brian Williamson, equity trader at Boston Company Asset Management. ...