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It was another low volatility day in the markets.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 13,124, -33.3, -0.2%

S&P 500: 1,410, -0.6, -0.0%

NASDAQ: 3,073, +3.4, +0.1%

And now the top stories:
  • Everyone's talking about Ben Bernanke's big speech coming up at Friday's Kansas City Fed event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  If it isn't the most hyped event of the year, it certainly is the most overhyped event of the week.  

  • Fed watchers will be listening for any clues that the Federal Reserve might soon unveil more easy monetary policy.  However, economist David Rosenberg believes that anyone hoping for dovish signs will be disappointed. "While he did use the Jackson Hole event as a venue to verbally hint at QE2 back in 2010, such was not priced in as QE3 seems to be today," he wrote.  "It was a surprise." 

  • With U.S. economic data improving the odds of more easing from the Fed seem to be getting smaller and smaller.  Earlier today, the Dallas Fed business activity index improved to -1.6, up from -13.2 last month.  Economists were looking for a reading -6.5. "Employment growth picked up in August, with the index rising to 14.2, its highest reading in five months," the Federal Reserve said in a statement.  

  • In less favorable news, China's Shanghai Composite index fell to a new post-crisis low after the National Bureau of Statistics reported a 5.4 percent drop in industrial company earnings.  This only fueled fears that China's economy was heading for a hard economic landing.