The Market On Wednesday

At 8:00 a.m. futures are slightly up, the dollar is down against the euro, yen, and pound, and the price of oil is up $1 per barrel to around $72.

One gets the sense that the markets are on shaky ground. Investors possibly want to see gains but European insolvency looms large, along with US unemployment, oil leaks, and general unrest in a curiously ill defined period, or at least that's how I describe it.

One would suspect that markets will open higher based on the positive trifecta alignment of futures, currency, and oil. After that all bets are off.

I included a recent CNN article on the possibility of the dreaded double dip recession. This article takes a positive view with a few interviewees stating that they don't see it coming. However Roubini is not in that camp, and that is no surprise.

CNN: Stocks set to extend gains

Report on wholesale inventories comes out at 10 a.m. ET. Investors will also be watching the Federal Reserve's "beige book" reading on the nation's 12 economic districts, which is due at 2 p.m.

CNN: Double dip recession: What are the odds?

Hoffman said he changed his mind about a potential double dip after major U.S. companies reported solid profit growth in the first quarter of 2010 and European leaders approved a $1 trillion bailout package to deal with the region's debt crisis.


Granted, the picture isn't all rosy. Unemployment is still high at 9.7%. But Wyss points out that consumers are spending again. Plus, the average person on main street doesn't seem as worried about getting laid off as they were a year ago, he said.