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What you need to know today

Markets' last burst for August
U.S. stocks started the final week of August on an upbeat note, with all three major indexes closing in the green. All but one sector in the S&P 500 were positive. The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.89%, helped by technology and construction stocks, which were the best-performing sectors. U.K. markets were closed for a bank holiday.

Goldman offloads another acquisition
Goldman Sachs is selling its personal financial management unit to Creative Planning, a wealth management firm. In May 2019, Goldman acquired United Capital Financial Partners for $750 million. CEO David Solomon heralded the deal as a way to reach high net worth clientele (Goldman focuses on ultra high net worth clientele) — but the bank only captured around 1% of that market by February.

Monetizing Google Maps data
Google is planning to license solar and environment data to companies, CNBC has learned. Google has energy data on over 350 million buildings, according to documents CNBC viewed, and sees opportunity to sell the data to companies like Tesla Energy, Aurora Solar and Zillow. The tech giant hopes revenue can hit $100 million in the first year.

Doomed hope on meme stock?
Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April; its share price has hovered around 20 cents since then. Yet investors are still trading the stock at enormous volumes: More than 15 million transactions took place on Aug. 16, according to Nasdaq data. It seems investors are still seized by meme stock frenzy — and might be left as empty handed as the company.

[PRO] Stocks' September vulnerability
We're in the last trading week for August. Investors may be heaving a sigh of relief because stocks have had more down weeks than up so far this month. But September's historically the worst month for stocks, according to CFRA data. And stocks still look vulnerable going into the new month, CNBC Pro's Bob Pisani writes. Here's why.

The bottom line

"There's an old adage amongst people who cover consumer markets," said Michael Zdinak, an economist who leads the U.S. consumer markets service at S&P Global Market Intelligence. "Never bet against the U.S. consumer because we're always willing to spend money we don't have."

Analysts at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, however, aren't so optimistic about the consumer.

"The consumer is less healthy than it appears," wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman. Consumers are spending more on services than goods, according to Gutman, which isn't good news for consumer retailers. Indeed, the retail sector's been roiled by volatility the last two weeks amid choppy earnings, said Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai. And investors should expect more turmoil ahead.

Maybe that warning comes from an overabundance of caution. After all, retail rallied Monday, along with nine other sectors in the S&P 500 (only utilities dipped by 0.04%). Markets broadly rose: The S&P added 0.63%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.84%.

Markets are trying to make up for a dismal August — so far, the S&P has shed around 3.4%, the Dow 2.8% and the Nasdaq 4.5% — but that might prove a difficult feat. Monday's rally was just one data point. Moreover, there are more obstacles ahead.

"The 'Wall of Worry' that had all but disappeared by July is being rebuilt – U.S. 10 year yields above 4%, anxiety rising in China, Europe's economy slumps, and a more sober tone from some U.S. retailers," Evercore ISI senior managing director Julian Emanuel wrote in a Sunday note.

That's not news investors want to hear heading into September, a historically bad month for stocks. Hence, even if markets manage to claw back some losses by the end of this week, it'd be prudent to brace for another trying month.