The Market On Tuesday

Good morning. It is 67 degrees and cloudy here in Upstate NY. The intense heat wave of last week is over for the time being. It was even a little cool last night making it good sleeping weather. Summer is really peaking. Last night I bought a half gallon of milk with an expiration date of early September. That was information that I did not want to see or contemplate.

At 7:50 a.m. futures are slightly up, the dollar is down, and oil is slightly up.

The dominant news remains the battle over raising the debt ceiling. It's also the dominant news affecting the markets. There isn't much that we can add to this discussion. The GOP remains intractable and quite willing to sink the world economy along with the retirement assets of millions upon millions of Americans in order to hurt Obama in 2012. Does anybody think for a moment that this dog and pony show is about anything else. The polarization that has so viciously marked the country over the past is worse than ever. Contempt for the GOP is stronger than ever. I look forward to the GOP's demise.

CNN: Stocks set for flat open

...with only five trading days before the debt ceiling deadline, the issue is likely to overshadow earnings and economic data.


The S&P Case-Shiller home price index is scheduled for release at 9 a.m. ET.