The Market On Monday

Good morning. It is 54 degrees and sunny here in Upstate NY. We are expecting to see the temperature go up into the 80s today. It's going to be a hot one. One wonders what it will be like around here in the middle of July and August with this unprecedented heat, right through from the mildest winter I can recall. All I know is that I will be out walking quite a bit later today, we'll see how the new dog handles it. I will bring along water, don't worry.

At 7:50 a.m. futures are moderately higher, the dollar is mostly up against major world currencies, and the price of oil is down per barrel. This is a very intriguing mix, right now the market could open higher or lower. It's really a crap shoot and some people think the market is long overdue for a correction and last week's turbulence was part of that.

Regardless, investors are focused on Spain's economy this week - how sustainable is it , etc etc. As we know, the overall Eurozone financial crisis will keep reappearing as a major point of concern in the investment world.

Today investors will be getting data on retail sales in America. Now if there was ever a critical bit of information for Wall Street it is how Americans are opening up their wallets. Discretionary spending is as key to investors as the housing market in terms of the US pop economy.

CNN: Stocks: Europe remains in focus

Investors will be watching auctions of Spanish government bills on Tuesday and bonds on Thursday.


The Commerce Department is expected to report Monday that retail sales ticked up only 0.3% in March after rising 1.1% in February.