Investors experienced another quiet week as slow trading and modestly encouragin g economic data failed to rouse much

excitement. U.S. trading volume has decline d in recent weeks as traders take vacations and investors wait for clues from th e Fed summit at the end of the month and the ECB meeting in September. All the m ajor indices closed up for the week, with the S&P picking up 0.87%, the Dow gain ing 0.51%, and the Nasdaq inching 1.84%. Markets got a mild boost from domestic economic data on Thursday, but the rally lacked conviction. Equities continued their slow upward grind on Friday, boosted by a solid consumer sentiment reading. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey e xceeded the consensus estimate, indicating that consumers are feeling more optim istic about their prospects in this economy.[1] Rising consumer confidence raise s the odds that American households can sustain the spending that led to July s pick up in retail sales, setting the stage for stronger growth in this quarter. On another positive note, U.S homebuilder confidence hit a five-year high this m onth. Homebuilders are upbeat about their economic prospects as home sales appro ach levels not seen since the housing bubble burst. Low mortgage rates and a dec line in unsold homes have fueled improved sales, and banks have aided the housin g recovery by holding back foreclosed homes to avoid flooding the market.[2] Over in the technology sector, Groupon (GRPN) and Facebook (FB), two social medi a darlings, are feeling the pain of poor market sentiment. Shares of both compan ies finished the week at all-time lows; Facebook has lost nearly half its market value since its IPO in May and Groupon is now a sub-$5 stock. Groupon was hamme red this week by a poor earnings report and concern about its cash position, whi le Facebook lost 4% on Friday as the first investor lock-up period expired and a llowed insiders to sell their holdings. Both companies have struggled in the mar ket since their respective IPOs and can be held up as cautionary tales of the da ngers of jumping into fad stocks.[3] [4] Next week will see the release of earnings reports from technology heavyweights Dell (DELL), and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), providing insight into how they re coping wi th soft personal computer sales and changing industry trends. We ll also see the rel ease of meeting minutes from the Fed s FOMC meeting, which may give investors the cl ues they re waiting for about the Fed s plans for quantitative easing.