Gains on Friday were paced by industrial, financial and energy stocks, the cyclical triumvirate. ... Bulls still need to reclaim the 50-day moving average at 4,445 for the benchmark S&P 500. Getting above that key resistance point will set the tone for the rest of the year.

September brought losses across most sectors, styles, and areas, except energy and natural resources. As usual, some funds and ETFs held up better than others. Find out what's going on in the markets lately and which funds held up best in September sell-off.

Regional banks were our best weekly performers: New York Community Bancorp (NYCB +5.59%) and TrustCo Bank Corp NY (TRST +5.23%). Pennsylvania bank Citizens & Northern (CZNC +2.88%) was also a standout.

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The $SPX chart is in a short-term downtrend, but intermediate-term sell signals are nigh. Defensive action is recommended, and aggressive accounts can buy put spreads.

With all the major market averages well in the red, September continued to lay claim to being the worst month of the year for equities. Indeed, the S&P 500, Dow Jones, NASDAQ and Wilshire 5000 dropped 4.8%, 4.3%, 5.3% and 4.5% respectively, in September for their biggest declines since they [...]