The Market On Thursday

At 7:45 a.m. futures are modestly up. The market is poised to once again open higher. With the markets closing for the weekend today at 1:00 p.m. EST, trading will be lighter. The DOW at 10,500 is still in sight, could this be the day's trajectory...

As you know, the Senate passed the health care reform bill. Investors have already factored this into the equation and notice how insurance equities are rising just fine.

Hmm.

Keep your eye on the government's numbers for weekly jobless claims.

CNN: Wall Street looks for cheery open

"The Santa rally is going to continue..."

Also due in the morning is the government's weekly jobless claims report.

Reuters: Futures up ahead of jobless, durable goods data

...orders for long-lasting goods are expected to rise 0.5 percent after dropping 0.6 percent in October...