NEW YORK — Prospects for a year-end rally dimmed this week right along with the chances of another interest rate cut, and that has investors wondering if the bull market can be saved.

Investors enter November with some considerable doubts about corporate earnings, inflation, the continuing credit turmoil, the Federal Reserve's next move, and whether the U.S. might plunge into a recession. All this hangs over the stock market, which has been fragile at best this year.

The quarter-point cut wasn't enough to satisfy Wall Street, which wants to see further reductions to help stimulate everything from cheaper loans to corporate borrowing. And, the Fed's inclination that it might not lower rates again this year sent the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling 1.5 percent this past week.

The tug-of-war between Wall Street and the Fed has individual investors wondering whether this week's market decline was a temporary shake-up or a signal to re-evaluate stocks altogether. Most people aren't expecting a worst-case scenario, but some observers say economic data will be a key to determining the market's direction.

"It is almost futile to try and watch everything because this is going to become a data-driven market again," said Chris Johnson, president of Johnson Research Group. "Before, we were waiting for what the Fed was doing, but now all of a sudden that safety net is gone."

Johnson and others caution not to react too quickly to economic reports from the government and trade groups due over the next few months. The data typically give a backward look at the economy, and it often takes time to get a good interpretation of what the numbers mean.

For instance, Wall Street got a surprisingly strong report yesterday from the Labor Department that showed 166,000 new jobs added in October — yet no rally followed. A more careful reading of the data indicated that fewer people were employed overall last month.

With the Fed unlikely to cut rates, the market wants to see reassuring economic readings. This would indicate that inflation remains in check and the economy continues to plow ahead.

But there are unknowns — the biggest is the financial sector, hit hard during the third quarter after taking massive write-downs from investments linked to the subprime mortgage industry.

If there is one thing that can torpedo the market's run this year — when the Dow reached record heights and is up 9.08 percent — it would be a collapse in the financial sector. It would crush any hope for the typical year-end rally that Wall Street has enjoyed, dent corporate earnings, and the economy as a whole.