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Stock market returns to its wacky ways

After a summer lull, the stock market is back to swinging up and down wildly — grabbing the attention of once-complacent investors.

Friday, the quiet market made a lot of noise when stocks suffered their biggest drop since the shock known as Brexit was heard ’round the world in late June. Monday — when stocks rebounded sharply, erasing half of Friday’s losses — the sense of calm seemed a distant memory.

Volatility — code word for wildly gyrating stock prices — has returned with a vengeance. Backto-back days with monstrous moves in either direction is proof.

Friday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index fell 2.45%, snap- ping two streaks in the process. It was the first decline of more than 1% since June 27 and the first time it had moved more than 1%, up or down, since July 8, S&P Dow Jones Indices says.

Monday’s wild action, punctuated by a 1.3% rebound, is more proof that the days of tiny point moves are over.

The source of the market’s renewed turbulence is the Federal Reserve. More specifically: Will they hike interest rates next week?

Heading into the meeting, Fed members have offered wildly different viewpoints. Friday, comments from one Fed official made it seem almost a certainty the central bank would hike next week. Monday, a different Fed official offered up a treatise as to why now is not the time to hike. The suspense ends Sept. 21 when the Fed makes its decision public.