Before the Open (Aug 31)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed down across the board. Europe is currently down across the board. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap down for the cash market.
Twice in the last week the market has acted like it wanted to reverse the short term downtrend and both times the bears reasserted themselves. Everything is bad; everything is negative. The only hope the bulls have is that investor sentiment tips too far in the bear’s favor and therefore a surprise rally should follow. Otherwise there’s nothing for the bulls to hang their hats on.
Here’s and update of the S&P 10-min chart I posted yesterday. Previous support did hold as resistance. There may be minor support at 1045, but stronger support doesn’t come into play until 1040.

Here’s the SPX 60-min chart. If the index loses 1040 and can’t quickly reclaim it, 1020 and the July low are next.

More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings Reports
this week’s Economic Numbers