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Art Cashin: Why investors need 'caution' this week

Cashin: Russell 2000 needs breakout
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Cashin: Russell 2000 needs breakout

Investors should proceed with "a little" caution this week—a historically "spotty" time for stocks, veteran trader Art Cashin told CNBC on Monday.

Speaking from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before trading opened, Cashin added that market watchers seem to have been revising their analysis of a better-than-expected employment data released last week. The data showed the U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in June, a headline that helped propel the Dow past 17,000 points last Thursday.

"I think you want to be a little cautious here," Cashin said on "Squawk on the Street." "There's a little re-think going here about the nonfarm payrolls — a large, large chunk being temporary jobs [and] people wondering whether that is a continuation of the supposed implication of the Affordable Care Act."

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Cashin also advised investors to watch the Russell 2000, an index of stocks with small market capitulations. The index hasn't seen the same gains in the more closely watched Dow and . Instead, the Russell has hit a "brick wall," Cashin said.

The Russell needs to break through the 1,211 to 1,215 point level in order to give investors a bullish signal, Cashin added.

—By CNBC's Jeff Morganteen