The Market On Thursday

Good morning. It is 66 degrees and overcast here in Upstate NY. I am rushing once again because I see the chiropractor shortly. I've said it before and it's worth repeating, the adjustments have made me much more aware of the need for good posture, especially when sitting in front of the computer. I hope you are sitting up straight now too. We'll make a posture pact.

At 7:30 a.m. futures are moderately higher, the dollar is mostly up against world currencies, and the price of oil per barrel is up. Right now the market is poised to open higher.

In about an hour investors will see the weekly first time layoff numbers and that is always telling. All around the articles are spelling out a more optimistic morning and I believe it's mostly based on HP's better than expected first quarter results and upbeat forecast. This is contrary to the opinion that the tech sector was weakening.

Otherwise any optimism about Greece's inevitable collapse or wished for non collapse are more emotional than factual. European leaders met last night to work over policy and the word is that nothing moved forward. The leaders want Greece to implement agreed upon austerity measures and the Greek people want something better.

CNN: Stocks set to open higher

...Hewlett-Packard...shot up 9% in after-hours trading Wednesday, after the company reported profit and sales that beat forecasts and raised its forecast for the full year.


German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "We want Greece to stay in the euro, but we insist that Greece sticks to commitments that it has agreed to."


...China's manufacturing sector continued to shrink in May...


Oil for July delivery rose 53 cents to $90.43 a barrel...