End of August. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each clocked their best August since 2021, despite Monday's end-of-month slide.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% on Monday but locked in a monthly gain of 2.6%.

The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1% to bring its monthly gain down to 3.9%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 374 points, or 0.7%. It rose 1.3% on the month.

Not to be outdone, the Dow marked a milestone of its own by rising for 15 out of 16 months for the first time since 1936, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Indexes notched August gains as Wall Street began buying the AI stock dip in late July. Things might not come so easy in September.

History is not on the market's side. Going back to 1897, the has Dow averaged a 1.1% drop in September. The S&P 500 has averaged a drop of 1.1% since 1928. The Nasdaq has averaged a 0.8% drop since its inception in 1971. The Russell 2000 beats the pack, but only barely; going back to 1987, it's averaged a decline of 0.5%.

The first big test for markets will likely by Friday's nonfarm payrolls report. After the past few softer releases, investors will want to see some resilience in the August tally.

Beyond that there will be a host of economic and inflation data before the Federal Open Market Committee's Sept.15 to 16 meeting.

Following Kevin Warsh's speech last week at Jackson Hole, traders see a 66.1% chance the Fed opts to raise interest rates.

With all that data, and investors returning from late-summer holidays, you can expect a busy September for Wall Street.

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The Hot Stock: Crowdstrike Holdings +5.8% The Biggest Loser: Edison International -23.1%

Best Sector: Energy +2.1% Worst Sector: Communication Service -1.6%

Tim Cook Steps Aside

The John Ternus era at Apple begins tomorrow.

Today was Apple CEO Tim Cook's last day in the role. Though Cook will still be Apple's executive chairman, Ternus will succeed him as chief executive.

"Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO," Cook wrote on X. "Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration."

My colleague Angela Palumbo writes that Cook oversaw huge shareholder returns despite stepping into the massive shadow of Steve Jobs. Angela writes:

From Aug. 23, 2011-one day before Cook became CEO-to the market close on Friday, Apple stock soared 2,296%, compared to the 563% rise of the in the same period, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That means an investment of $1,000 in Apple when Cook became CEO would now be worth $23,960, not including dividends.

With a market cap north of $4.6 trillion, Apple is just behind Nvidia at the top of the global rankings. Under Cook, the company's services business-which includes Apple Music, the App Store, and Apple TV-helped drive hundreds of billion in annual sales. But Wall Street is more concerned about what comes next.

Ternus takes over at a time when analysts are wondering if and how the firm can incorporate burgeoning AI technology in ways that can drive shareholder returns.

Apple's next earnings call isn't expected until October, but Ternus will have a chance to introduce himself to the world at the firm's annual iPhone event on Sept. 9.

Read Angela's full story on Cook's legacy and what's next for Apple here.

The Calendar

Credo Technology, Dell Technologies, Gitlab, Medtronic, MongoDB, NIO, and Palo Alto Networks report quarterly results tomorrow.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Economists forecast 7.3 million job openings on the last business day of July, slightly less than in June. There are currently 1.04 job openings for every unemployed person, down from a peak of 2 in April 2022.

The Institute for Supply Management releases its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for August. The consensus call is for a 55.1 reading, half a point lower than in July.

-Dan Lam

What We're Reading Today

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