The Market On Friday

Good morning. It is semi cloudy and a tad below freezing here in Upstate NY. Its been so cold lately that temperatures in the 20s seem like a heat wave. Nice to see the slow return of light as well. We've had a little over a month of the Earth tilting back towards the Sun in our favor. Hey, we are almost done with January which as far as I can tell is the coldest month.

At 8:30 a.m. futures are slightly up, the dollar is mixed as the yen is under pressure, and oil is down.

For a while the DOW crossed over into the 12,000 zone yesterday. Equities are looking pretty fluffy right now. Owning equities requires great patience. Its fascinating but in spite of the great recession, the market is responding in a typical historical fashion. It certainly did not feel like it would in any way whatsoever. One gets the sense that investors are expecting more. Remember, optimistic in times of famine, and pessimistic in times of plenty.

CNN: Stocks poised for lackluster open

...SnP downgraded Japan's credit rating...


(On Wednesday) The Dow finished at its highest level since the summer of 2008...


...stocks are likely to continue their upward march...


Oil for March delivery was down 54 cents to $86.79 a barrel.