The Market On Friday

Good morning and welcome to the weekend. It is 64 degrees and overcast here in Upstate NY. We have a break in the string of extra hot days with the logo predicting 79 degrees as today's high. We shall see. If you're in the area on Sunday come on out and see my quartet perform. We're going to be playing a mix of European inspired jazz and other catchy tunes.

At 8:15 a.m. futures are moderately lower, the dollar is mostly up against major world currencies, and the price of oil is down per barrel. The market is poised to open lower.

Reading through the morning's premarket analysis, I don't really take away any one compelling reason why futures are down. We see that the majority of corporate results have beaten expectations, meaning that corporate financial health is just fine, it's better than expected. Perhaps futures are lower because the rest of the economy, the 99% remaining segment, is in the tank. Nah, it must be something else...

CNN: Stocks headed for weak open

General Electric reported earnings...that topped estimates but revenue fell short.


Of the 77 S&P 500 companies that had reported earnings through Wednesday, 48 have topped forecasts...


...Spaniards have taken to the streets in violent protest of tough austerity cuts the eurozone's fourth-largest economy needs to make.