Friday brings government reports on new home sales and durable goods orders, as well as the University of Michigan's September consumer sentiment indexStocks fell for a second day Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced plans to start unwinding some stimulus measures and a report showed existing-home sales fell last month.The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 41.11 points to 9,707.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 10.09 points to 1,050.78.In the short term, "there's not a whole lot of bad news that could derail equities," said Robert Siewert, portfolio manager at Glenmede. "But the rally since March has been the sharpest since the 1930s and it's not surprising to see occasional pullbacks."However, Siewert said that longer term, there are a lot of headwinds that could challenge stocks, with 2010 likely a tougher year for equities. He cited challenges including the eventual rising of taxes, the labor market weakness, the still-tight credit market and the struggle of a consumer that chooses to save at the expense of personal spending.
