After a holiday, you'd think the stock market would return refreshed and ready to move forward. But investors brought in the first trading day of September with a whimper, as falling manufacturing figures in the U.S. reawakened concerns that the economic recovery may not be as strong as many have hoped. Particularly troubling about the Institute for Supply Management's data was that companies hired the fewest workers since November 2009, making it clear that lack of employment opportunities will keep weighing on the labor force for some time. Add in continuing concerns about Europe, and the Dow Jones Industrials
As you'd expect on any day in which economic news is in the spotlight, economically sensitive stocks were among the biggest fallers. Caterpillar
Conversely, stocks that benefit from a slower economy did well. Wal-Mart
Finally, ExxonMobil
Look to the long run
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