On a light news day ahead of the long weekend, all attention turned to the August employment report, which was better than expected and drove the markets higher on the day. The only sour note was sounded by the ISM services index, which showed a slowdown in the rate of growth in the non-manufacturing areas of the economy. The Dow finished higher by 127 points, with all 30 components higher; the S&P 500 was up 14; and the Nasdaq gained 33. Advancers led decliners by three to one on the NYSE and the Nasdaq. The prices of Treasuries weakened. Gold futures fell $2.30 to $1,251.10 an ounce, while the price of crude oil fell 42 cents to settle at $74.60 a barrel.

For the week, the Dow was 2% higher, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained 3%.

In Earnings News

- Campbell Soup Co. reported better-than-expected earnings but disappointed on both its quarterly sales and full-year revenue forecast. For the fiscal fourth quarter that ended August 1st, Campbell Soup reported net income of $113 million, or 33 cents a share, against the year-ago quarter's net income of $69 million, or 20 cents a share. Sales fell 1% to $1.52 billion. The soup maker expected sales growth for the new fiscal year to be 2% to 3%, less than its long-term target of 3% to 4%. Campbell Soup's shares (CPB) fell 3%.

In Other Business News

- The much-anticipated August employment report from the Labor Department was better than expected. Overall employment fell by 54,000 jobs, mainly due to the continuing effect of temporary Census workers leaving the payrolls. The big surprise was that the private sector added 67,000 jobs during the month, more than double the 30,000 that was expected. The unemployment rate edged up to 9.6%, as expected.

- Growth in the nonmanufacturing areas of the economy slowed in August, according to the Institute for Supply Management's services index. The index dropped to 51.5 from 54.3 in July, still in the above-50 expansion territory but indicating a lower rate of growth. The index has shown expansion for eight straight months.

- In mergers and acquisitions news, Goldcorp Inc., a Canadian mining company, agreed to buy Andean Resources Ltd., a Utah-based mining company with gold and silver mines in Argentina. Goldcorp agreed to pay $3.42 billion. A rival Canadian mining company, Eldorado Gold Corporation, had also made an offer recently. Goldcorp's shares (GG) fell 2%, while Andean Resources gained 45% on the Toronto stock exchange.

- If you're hitting the road this Labor Day weekend, AAA advises you to be prepared for a 10% increase in traffic over last year, with 34.4 million people expected to travel at least 50 miles. Pent-up demand and low gas prices are behind the projected increases. The East Coast, however, might be affected by incoming Hurricane Earl, which is causing travelers to the region to try to maintain flexible schedules.

*****

This summer hasn't been the normally unexciting "sell in May and go away" variety. Just the opposite: the markets' hyperventilation continued uninterrupted from the often-erratic winter and spring we had. I'm trying to keep that in mind as we enter what's traditionally the markets' busier season. It seems like we've had no downtime to regroup (if you're just coming back from a three-month vacation or were lost all summer in the woods, don't worry: in this case, ignorance truly is bliss.) It's easy to get pulled into the trap of moving breathlessly from economic report to economic report, one earnings season blending in with the next, living in perpetual anticipation instead of appreciating what any given moment offers us. But constantly anticipating the future means the future never arrives: it sneaks by unnoticed because we're too busy paying attention to the next big thing on the horizon instead of the future we've been waiting for. Unless, of course, you've been on that three-month vacation. Your future is here, and it's called your "inbox."

Sometimes it's necessary to slow things down to keep your sanity. I don't know exactly what that means for investing, where paying attention is often crucial. Maybe it means staying firm with your long-term allocations and not getting panicked by the perpetual fluctuations of the day-to-day markets; maybe it means focusing on your goals – what you're investing for – and not the sometimes-chaotic means of getting to those goals. Of course, this is easy advice to give on a good market day, like today.

Outside of the world of investing, there are growing movements to slow down pretty much everything – especially online commitments, which, between e-mail, Facebook, and the connection to work, ramp up the speed of modern life. There's a new phenomenon of people trying – often unsuccessfully – to cut off their electronic tethers, either for extended periods or just carving out several hours every day when they're not plugged in. Then there's a slow-food movement, which counters the fast food lifestyle that's so easy to slip into. There's a slow-reading movement to help people regain the pleasures of a leisurely stroll through text that's unmarred by hyperlinks (these are otherwise known as "books"). There's a slow-parenting movement that helps parents recover the natural rhythm of a child's life from the hyperactive slate of activities and sports and schoolwork they've developed over the past few decades. Now there's even an International Day of Slowness, celebrated every summer solstice.

I think I'll celebrate it this Labor Day. And, for good measure, every Friday, at least until my boss says, "What's with the sloth? Have you forgotten the concept of 'deadline'?" So much for slowness.

Have a great, slow Labor Day. In the meantime, if you've ever wondered what the "total" in a total return bond fund means, Portfolio Manager Tom O'Connor explains as our guest for "On the Trading Desk".

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