Financial Apocalypse Now - Again.

CNBC's Market Insider reports:

'Zombie Economy' May Give Markets a Scare in October

Traders expect October to give the markets a scare, starting with news on the economy and jobs in the week ahead.

After a surprisingly good performance in the third quarter, the thinking is the stock market is ready to pull back, especially after a few choppy sessions and a new batch of data that should continue to show a slow-moving, ‘zombie like’ economy. (Read More: September Bad for Stocks? Why It's Different This Time)

Stocks logged the best third quarter performance since 2010. For the quarter, the Dow [.DJI 13437.13 -48.84 (-0.36%) ] surged 4.32 percent and the S&P 500 [.SPX 1440.67 -6.48 (-0.45%) ] soared 5.76 percent.

The coming week could provide plenty of excuses to take profits, beginning with Monday’s ISM manufacturing data, again expected to show weakness in the sector.

Manufacturing reports from China, over the weekend, and from Europe, also Monday, will provide a look at just how sluggish global activity has become.

Friday’s jobs report is expected to show the low level of job creation continued in September, after August’s 96,000 nonfarm payrolls. The U.S. election is also a focus this week, with the first presidential debate in the tight race Wednesday evening.