Markets had a lot of data to digest this week as global manufacturing figures and July's Non Farm Payrolls report hit.
Monetary policy meetings by both the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve were also closely watched, as analysts tried to gauge when additional easing could take place.
Those reading the economic tea leaves offered several different ideas, although no one point gained mass acceptance.
EL-ERIAN: The Fed Has Full Knowledge That Their Measures Don't Work But They Do It Anyway
"The Fed’s attempt to overcome its policy dilemma has little chance of succeeding given the degree of political dysfunction in Washington. It is only a matter of weeks until, once again, Fed officials will feel compelled to act, and despite full knowledge that their measures will have limited effectiveness in delivering desired outcomes."
DAVID ZERVOS: The Fed And The ECB Actually Did A Lot This Week
"In the end, both Ben and Mario did NOT disappoint. They delivered strong messages that show explicit intent to provide aggressive accommodation in the event economic conditions do not improve, or worse, deteriorate further. To be sure, there were no "tangible" preemptive strikes, but the Fed and ECB laid out very clear plans for the rest of the year. Importantly, the Fed is as close as it was in late 2010 to delivering more accommodation."
JACK BOGLE: I'm On Bill Gross's Side In His Feud With Jeremy Siegel
"I think there's some merit in Bill's position that stocks are going to give returns that are much lower than historical levels and bonds definitely will give much lower returns. I happen to think he's a little bit low. For example he says in a balanced portfolio nominal returns might be bonds and stocks half and half roughly and the return on that portfolio might be 3 percent before deducting inflation and my own work suggests 5 percent."
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