The Market On Tuesday

Good morning. It is 19 degrees and hazy but sunny here in Upstate NY. We have a dusting of snow on the ground and roads, not really enough to make it terribly slippery. Curiously the forecast points to today as the coldest out of the next 10. After today we go back to the mid 30s and that is unusual for January in Upstate NY. Up to this point its been very mild as well. I guess some sort of critical demarcation occurs in one's life when they actually blog about the weather and find it compelling. On the other hand, are we experiencing the results of climate change here? That to me really is compelling in a very undesirable way.

At 8:00 a.m. DOW futures are moderately down (and that could be a typo from my source) and S&P futures are up, oil is up, and the dollar is down. Call it a semi-trifecta for an assured bounce at the bell.

Investors are pleased to learn that manufacturing is slightly expanding in China and India over the last month. This is a big deal as China is the manufacturing hub of the world as we know. When China hiccups the world holds its monetary breath.

Today investors will get more data on housing and manufacturing. Don't get me started on housing, what a mess. Regardless, the hope is that there is some pickup within the construction world.

I enjoy reading articles where in some communities the Occupy movement is enabling people to live in foreclosed houses. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with a culture that wastes food and housing each day at a rate that could potentially sustain millions of people. There something ugly and spiteful about that.

"You can't pay for it? You need to starve and go homeless." - Actually this should be the Tea Party/GOP motto. Maybe I'll send it in. Send it to Santorum, he can tattoo it on his forehead.

CNN: Stocks look to start 2012 higher

Over the weekend, the Chinese government released its official reading on manufacturing activity, showing the sector expanded slightly in December...on Monday, a report...showed India's manufacturing activity picked up significantly during the month.


The government will release data on construction spending for the month of November.


Oil for February delivery added $2.59 to $101.42 a barrel.