The two-way action whether daily or intraday, are enough to keep most investors on the sidelines. September’s end of month ramp seemed more an exercise in end of quarter manipulation and short covering.

October starts with more volatility as markets opened sharply lower then rallied late in the day to eke-out small gains. One spot that proved to be a drag Thursday was a weak performance from Apple. Given the company is such a heavyweight in many sectors and indexes, and is much overowned, it can influence markets one way or another. 

Economic data continues to be un-solid (is that a word?) to contradict recent Fed jargon. Challenger Cuts rose to 58K vs prior 41K; Jobless Claims rose 10K to still a low 277K; PMI Mfg Index was unchanged at an uninspiring 53.1; ISM Mfg Index fell to 50.2 vs prior 51.1; and Construction Spending was basically unchanged after revisions lower. The bottom line this day is markets were choppy and mixed from sector to sector. Color it sloppy.

All eyes will now turn to the Employment Report and Factory Orders Friday.

Market sectors moving higher included: Healthcare (XLV), Biotech (IBB), Homebuilders (ITB), Consumer Discretionary (XLY), Oil & Gas Exploration (XOP), Materials (XLB), Emerging Markets (EEM), Spain (EWP), Japan (EWJ), South Korea (EWY), Taiwan (EWT), Australia (EWA), China (FXI), South Africa (EZA) and a few others.

Market sectors moving lower included: Retail (XRT), Small Caps (IWM), Utilities (XLU), Junk Bonds (HYG), Germany (EWG), Greece (GREK), Russia (RSX), India (EPI), Crude Oil (USO), Natural Gas (UNG), Volatility (VIX), Gold Stocks (GDX) and others.

The top ETF daily market movers by percentage change in volume whether rising or falling is available daily.

Volume was modest Thursday and breadth per the WSJ was mixed to negative.

The coming quarter is supposed to be the best time for markets. For that to happen Goldman Sachs informs us two things need to happen—stock buybacks must continue at high levels, and earnings reports must be better than expected. The first is only made difficult by declining high yield markets while the second is more BS to beat lowered estimates if that’s what they mean by better earnings.

Employment Report and Factory Orders on tap.

Let’s see what happens.