After reaching an all-time high of $1,917.90 per ounce on Tuesday, gold felt gravity's pull this week. The yellow metal lost the Midas touch, falling as much as -11%, amid speculation the U.S. central bank would give the economy a boost. While gold fell, crude oil rose ahead of the Fed meeting and concerns Hurricane Irene would disrupt supply. Despite giving back some gains ahead of the Jackson Hole confab, oil remained on track for its first weekly gain in more than a month

Volume totals may likely remain on the quiet side next week, with Hurricane Irene now headed for the north eastern US, and many traders tempted to sneak out early to their Hampton hideaways ahead of the upcoming Labor Day weekend. Next Friday’s important employment report will be closely watched, however, and expectations by Wall Street are for the August non-farm payrolls to rise by 95,000 jobs while the unemployment rate stands still at 9.1%. Ahead of the job numbers will be updates for personal spending and income, housing and manufacturing. Wednesday's release of the Fed minutes from the August meeting could provide insight into the decision to keep interest rates low until mid-2013. Investors also will look to speeches on from Fed regional presidents for additional insight into the current economic state.

Apple Inc (AAPL +2.64%) erased losses triggered by the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO. Pandora Media (P +7.54%) shares rose after the online music company reported second-quarter sales and profit that beat analysts' estimates. Tiffany & Co (TIF +9.35%) jumped after the retailer lifted its outlook for the year and beat profit forecasts. Meanwhile, Travelers Companies Inc (TRV +0.65%), Allstate Corp (ALL +0.08%), and other insurance stocks held their ground or rebounded slightly as Hurricane Irene appeared to be weakening.

The market environment (M criteria) is currently described as "uptrend under pressure" since a distribution day occurred soon after Tuesday's follow-through day (FTD). Historically, when a distribution day occurs on the first or second day after a follow-through day, the "uptrend" reportedly has failed 95% of the time.  The dearth of leadership (few stocks hitting new 52-week highs) also suggests that there may not be a healthy crop of leaders showing sufficient strength to allow the major averages to sustain a meaningful advance. The indices also remain well below their respective 200-day moving average (DMA) lines, and to be considered truly "healthy" they would need to rebound above their long-term averages.

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PICTURED: The NYSE Composite Index shows lighter volume totals in the recent bounce, revealing a lack of conviction from the institutional crowd.