The Market On Monday

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. In upstate NY the oppressive humidity has lifted for the time being. My block was very quiet last week with everyone staying indoors in air conditioned spaces. The humidity was oppressive but the environment was peaceful.

At 7:10 a.m. futures are moderately down. Four words will define the week's market activity - second quarter corporate results. Those four words can be summarized with one word - money.

I'm beginning to think that each morning's pre-market analysis could be summarized with dollar signs. With movies we get four stars or one star or no stars. We could have a dollar sign equivalent for Wall Street. Its a four dollar sign day ($$$$) or its a one dollar sign day ($).

Regardless, after the market closes at 4 p.m. EST today, Alcoa will take its role as the first report out of the box. Aluminum, its a fine raw material and its a fundamental component in manufacturing.

CNN: Stocks set for lower open

"There are a lot of expectations out there, so earnings will have to beat these, and corporate America is going to have to avoid being murky with their forecasts or else the market could be subject to a reversal."


The dollar was up against the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.


U.S. light crude oil for August delivery fell 64 cents to $75.45 a barrel.

Reuters: Stock futures signal losses

Overall, analysts expect 27 percent growth in earnings on the S&P 500 for the second quarter according to Thomson Reuters data, up from previous readings in the past three quarters, which hovered around 22 percent.