CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Lee Thompson Young, 26; Big Boi, 35; Michael C. Hall, 39; Lisa Marie Presley, 42

The adage “as January goes, so goes the year” bodes ill for equity investors after the S&P 500 closed out its worst month in almost a year. This week, they will have to contend with fears of sovereign defaults and potential unpleasantness in the U.S. labor market as well.

The economic recovery is suddenly looking more robust. If it is going to stay that way, the labor market will need to catch up soon.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson feared there would be a run on the dollar during the early stages of the financial crisis when attention was focused on the United States.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average is likely to trade in a narrow range on Monday, hurt by worry about fiscal stability in Europe and weak tech shares that pushed U.S. stocks lower but also bolstered by bargain-hunting.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) only wants the non-U.S. operations of RBS Sempra, Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS.L) commodities unit, having previously entered talks to buy the whole business, energy news service SparkSpread reported.

The U.S. military will resume evacuation flights to the United States for critically injured Haitian earthquake victims within the next 12 hours, the White House said on Sunday.

Accused September 11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried and convicted and is likely to be executed, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Sunday.