On a positive note, the markets rebounded last week. While one week isn't a trend, a lot of bad things didn't happen as people inched their way back to some sort of normalcy. The U.S. dollar stabilized, equities rose, U.S. second quarter gross domestic product was revised upward and more people have gotten back to work.

This is the wrong time for investors to jump to conclusions about market and economic performance. Economic data - both pre and post September 11 - need to be cautiously evaluated. And with the large number of business and consumer surveys to be released this week, this holds true especially for consumer confidence data where there has been a tendency of late to read too much into the indicators' moves. Patience should be the order of the day as people sort out their lives within the new reality. Forecasts, too, are necessarily on shakier grounds as greater uncertainties rule the day.

Introduction   •   Global Stock Market Indexes   •   Recap of Global Markets   •   Currencies   •  Indicator Scoreboard

The Bottom Line   •   Looking Ahead