Few will be sorry to see the back of this week, which wound down with horrific terror attacks in Spain.

While investors can move on after violent events, they may find it harder to shake the gloom that seems to be building over what POTUS can get done while in office. Some fear his economic adviser Gary Cohn may end up bailing, which could be bad news for stocks.

As Barron’s puts it, “Trump’s reputation as a business-friendly president has taken a hit for now.” Provided he avoids further feet in mouth, this too shall pass, given there is general agreement that tax reform will pass in some form, according to our sister publication.

But others don’t sound as optimistic — Hindenburg Omen anyone? Our call of the day comes from Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists Michael Hartnett and Jared Woodard, who say markets are on a “Humpty Dumpty” watch now.

What could make stocks head for a big August or September fall that all the president’s men couldn’t put back together again? For one, the Washington mess could start showing up in U.S. consumer confidence numbers (watch August data), and possibly even in Japan and Europe’s sentiment readings.

As well, the strategists say be wary if the dollar rallies further, which would remove the tailwind of a weaker buck for stocks. Here’s a BAML chart showing how the dollar has fallen alongside Trump’s approval ratings, though the bank now suggests the synchronized moves could end:

Tech stocks also might stop leading the way higher, Hartnett and Woodard warn.

Investors pulled $1.3 billion from equities in the week ended Wednesday, the biggest outflow in 10 weeks, according to BAML’s latest data on flows. Some $3.5 billion poured into bonds for a 22nd straight week of inflows, while $0.5 billion moved into precious metals, the biggest inflow in 10 weeks.

BAML’s bull/bear indicator is now sitting at 7.2, not far off a “sell signal,” but the strategists contine to advise hanging in there with risk assets until we hit a “euphoric” reading of 8.

Keep an eye on the ‘8’ ball?

Key market gauges

A struggle for direction is on, though the weekly trend is clearly negative. The Dow average DJIA, -0.87% and S&P 500 index SPX, -1.11% are inching lower, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.07% is wavering around the flatline.

Gold US:GCZ7 is up, but oil US:CLU7 the dollar DXY, +0.33% are heading lower. Asian stocks ADOW, -0.70% largely fell, led by the Nikkei, which slumped to a three-month low. Weighed down by worries around the terrorist attacks, Spanish stocks IBEX, -2.31% are leading European markets SXXP, -2.53% south.

See the Market Snapshot column for the latest action.

The chart

Gold is on a lot of traders’ minds right now, given the range of geopolitical fears in the past week. The safety play typically benefits from such worries, but it’s not been an amazing week, with the shiny stuff up about 0.6% for the week.

In a post on StockTwits, trader Yakob says gold may be on the verge of breaking out of a range:

Over at Petros Steriotis’s Trading the Markets blog, he sees gold busting out of a “W” pattern:

Check out:Donald Trump isn’t the only factor behind 2017 gold rally

The buzz

Spanish officers in Cambrils, south of Barcelona late Thursday Reuters

Spanish police are still hunting for the driver who mowed down pedestrians in Barcelona yesterday, leaving 13 dead and scores injured. Last night, Spain got hit by a second attack in the seaside town of Cambrils, leaving seven injured and five alleged terrorists dead. The news is weighing on Spanish stocks and has hit travel shares in London, such as easyJet EZJ, -8.32% and cruise operator Carnival CCL, -7.70% CCL, -5.72% . Here’s the good news for airline stocks, though.

Deere i DE, +0.92% is getting hit by a sales miss, but Estée Lauder EL, -1.53% is up on an earnings beat. Foot Locker FL, -0.44% is taking a dive after profit and sales fell short of estimates.

Ross Stores ROST, -1.71% is flying and Applied Material AMAT, -0.33% and Gap GPS, -0.65% is also rising after all those companies reported late Thursday.

Calpine US:CPN is rising on talk of a $17 billion buyout deal by Energy Capital Partners.

Infosys INFY, -1.24% is down premarket after CEO Vishal Sikka resigned.

21st Century Fox FOX, -2.67% CEO James Murdoch denounced the white supremacists violence in Charlottesville and POTUS’s response in an email obtained by The New York Times. He also pledged $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League.

A consumer sentiment index is due at 10 a.m. Eastern.

The stat

Eclipse in February 2017 AFP/Getty Images

$694 million — That’s how much it will cost in worker productivity for the solar eclipse coming Aug. 21. It will happen during the workday, so...

The quote

“The next time when you see bunch of white boys in polo shirts screaming about taking our country back, you want to scream, ‘It’s not our country, we stole it from the Native Americans, and when they have a peaceful protest at Standing Rock we shoot at them with rubber bullets, but we let you chinless turds march through the street with semiautomatic weapons.’” — University of Virginia alumna Tina Fey talks about her “sheetcaking” grass roots movement on Weekend Update, Summer Edition.

Random reads

Victims from at least 18 countries counted among the dead in Barcelona attack.

Monuments around the world paid tribute to the Barcelona victims:

Three devastating magazine covers on Charlottesville’s aftermath.

Missouri senator in hot water after a post about a Trump assassination.

Portland man partially blinded by 1963 eclipse has a warning.

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