The Market On Monday

Good morning. It is 39 degrees and cloudy here in Upstate NY. I think this might be our coldest morning yet in this Fall season. I hope you had a fine weekend. We did a lot of work puppy proofing the house, getting more ducks lined up for the arrival of our new dog this coming Saturday. We are primed for a challenging period and I'm looking forward to it. We have enough experience to know what to expect and the patience quota is good.

At 8:00 a.m. futures are flat, the dollar is mixed, and oil is slightly up.

The pendulum keeps swinging between Europe's debt crisis and economic conditions in America. This is a long standing story.

Investors will not know what is cooking in Europe till Wednesday when plans for how European leaders will solve this debt crisis are made known. Till then its still a slew of third quarter corporate reports. At the moment there seems to be a sentiment out there for more stability and less volatility.

CNN: Stocks to start the week little changed

...they were getting closer to finalizing a plan to solve the continent's (Europe's) debt crisis...a final agreement not expected before Wednesday...


"If we continue to see incremental progress out of Europe, I think you'll see less choppiness, and you could see continued gains in the U.S. equities side..."


Oil for December delivery gained 34 cents to $87.74 a barrel.