August saw the equity market make good the losses it experienced post its mid-July peak, with earnings and benign data helping the fightback. With August in the rearview mirror, here’s a look at the leaders and laggards among the S&P 500 Index, a broader gauge of market performance. 3-Part Trend: The month’s trading could be characterized as a tale of three trends. Stocks extended the weakness into August, with the S&P 500 bottoming on Aug. 5, coinciding with the collapse of the global equity markets. The unwinding of the yen carry trades due to the yen’s strength perked up risk aversion, send…