With a last-minute showdown over the federal budget looming in Congress and consumers and business owners trying to learn more about the healthcare exchanges slated to open October 1, there was a lot to concern Wall Street and Main Street last week. The Dow (-1.25 to 15,258.24) and S&P 500 (-1.06% to 1,691.75) made weekly retreats, but the NASDAQ rose 0.18% in five days to settle at 3,781.59 Friday.

After hitting an all-time high Wednesday, a bad Friday still left the Dow at 15,451.09 at the end of the week. Across a volatile five days, it rose 0.49%; the S&P 500 (+1.30% to 1,709.91) and NASDAQ (+1.41% to 3,774.73) both outperformed it last week.

As fears about missile strikes on Syria eased last week, stocks rose in advance of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy statement.  The Dow climbed 3.04% during its second-best week of 2013 to settle at 15,376.06 Friday. The NASDAQ (+1.70% to 3,722.18) and S&P 500 (+1.98% to 1,687.99) also had solid weeks. While all three indices are up more than 3% so far in September, the Russell 2000 is ahead of them all (+4.26% MTD at Friday’s close).

Between early May and mid-July, the average interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose about 1%. Rates on 30-year FRMs have basically held steady since hitting a peak of 4.51% in Freddie Mac’s July 11 Primary Mortgage Market Survey – in the August 15 edition, they averaged 4.40% – but they could rise dramatically again

The Dow snapped a 4-week losing streak by advancing 0.76% during September 3-6.  It settled Friday at 14,922.50, and its weekly gain was bettered by both the NASDAQ (+1.95% to 3,660.01) and the S&P 500 (+1.36% to 1,655.17). In after-hours trading Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury topped 3% for the first time since 2011.

With U.S. military intervention in Syria appearing close at hand, NYMEX crude ended the week up at $107.65, going +2.24% for August. Gold settled at $1,396.10 Friday; it entered a bull market once again, rising 5.26% on the month. Stocks declined: the Dow went -1.33% on the week to close at 14,810.31 Friday, and the NASDAQ (-1.86% to 3,589.87) and S&P 500 (-1.84% to 1,632.97) followed suit

Last week saw two unusual occurrences in the financial world: a three-hour trading interruption for the NASDAQ on Thursday, and a Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole, WY without the presence of Ben Bernanke. The S&P 500 rose 0.46% in five days to settle at 1,663.50 Friday. The NASDAQ also advanced; its 1.52% weekly rise brought it to 3,657.79 at week’s end. As for the Dow, it declined 0.47% across five days to 15,010.51.

Right now, Fannie and Freddie backstop almost 90% of U.S. home loans. They are also $187.5 billion in debt to taxpayers, a result of the 2008 bailout that rescued them from the edge of insolvency. Two measures are already underway in Congress to replace both government-sponsored enterprises within the next few years

Shares fell during a week in which 10-year Treasury yields hit a 2-year peak of 2.86%. The S&P 500 (-2.10% to 1,655.83), Dow (-2.23% to 15,081.47) and NASDAQ (-1.57% to 3,602.78) all pulled back. The Dow suffered its poorest week of 2013.

The big three all traded lower last week. The Dow went -1.49% to settle at 15,425.51 Friday, the NASDAQ went -0.80% to end the week at 3,660.11, and the S&P 500 went -1.07% to wrap up the week at 1,691.42.

On Friday, the S&P 500 settled at 1,709.67 – its highest close ever – thanks to a 1.07% weekly advance. The Dow closed at 15,658.36 Friday, the NASDAQ at 3,689.59; they respectively gained 0.64% and 2.12% last week.

While the S&P 500 lost 0.03% across five days last week to settle at 1,691.65 Friday, the DJIA (+0.10% to 15,558.83) and NASDAQ (+0.71% to 3,613.16) pulled higher. Gold settled at $1,321.70 on the COMEX Friday, oil at $104.70 on the NYMEX.

A 0.71% weekly advance took the broad benchmark to 1,692.09 at the closing bell Friday – it had never settled higher. While the NASDAQ pulled back 0.35% last week to 3,587.61, the Dow wrapped up the week at a fresh high of 15,543.74 after a 0.51% gain across five trading days. The CBOE VIX settled at just 12.56 Friday.

Last Wednesday, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke lifted stocks by noting that the U.S. economy needed “highly accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future,” adding that the current 7.6% jobless rate “overstates the health of the labor market.” Remarks like these didn’t exactly suggest the Fed would scale back its asset purchases soon. The June Fed policy meeting minutes showed...

1-year delay in health-care mandate, 195k more jobs in June, big gains in the market last week...