The major market indices have already pulled back from session highs, and then reversed out of downward trends. New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley noted earlier that a September rate hike is unlikely. Historically, major market pullbacks such as the one observed yesterday would result in the Fed reducing interest rates by approximately 15 basis points, according to Goldman Sachs. Stocks will continue trading all over the place. Right now is as an important time as ever to remember why you purchased the companies you own and refrain from selling out of panic. It is well know that stocks go down faster than they rise, however, great companies are more likely to reward the investors who hang on through tough times. Also note, the domestic economic data reports released today have been rather mixed.

The Mortgage Bankers’ Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications report this morning. During the week ended August 21^st, the composite index rose a meager 0.2% after gaining 3.6% the prior week. Consumers have refrained from refinancing their homes despite the 30-year fixed mortgage rate for conforming balances of $417,000 or less falling another 3 basis points to 4.08%. The refinance index fell by 1.0% after increasing by a whopping 7.0% the prior week. However, based off of Tuesday’s housing report, perhaps this change isn’t that bad. During the month of July, new home sales picked up the pace and it’s possible that August may be seeing improving new home sales as well. The purchase index rebounded during the week, rising 2.0% after falling 1.0% the prior week.

The Durable Goods report from the Census Bureau left a little more to be desired. During the month of July, total new orders increased by 2.0% month-over-month to $241.1 billion. This is slower than the upwardly revised 4.1% gain (from +3.4%) observed in June and represents a 19.6% year-over-year decline. New orders were greatly influenced by the transportation industry. When excluding transportation orders, July’s growth was +0.6% compared to the +0.4% consensus estimate. An important component of the report is how much capital goods new orders increased when excluding aircraft. For the month of July, non-defense capital goods new orders rose by 2.2% month-over-month to $69.98 billion.

Lastly, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly Petroleum Status report. In the week ended August 21^st, crude oil inventories saw a draw of 5.5 million barrels due to lower imports of the commodity. Currently, there are approximately 450.8 million barrels left in storage. Demand for gasoline products continues to be strong and producers are working to meet that demand. Gasoline inventories recovered slightly, rising by 1.7 million barrels after decreasing by 2.7 million barrels in the prior week. Initially, crude oil futures rose to an intraday high of $39.86, however, they have since pulled back.