Good morning. It is 53 degrees and clearing from after the rains here in Upstate NY. We really needed some rain and later on today we expect to see sunshine. Romney seems to be putting his foot in his mouth at an alarming rate. His leaked comments about people who pay no income taxes is extraordinarily shallow in light of the fact that it is in the red states, that would be Romney's base, where people are paying the least in income taxes. As I have mentioned on this blog numerous times, I support a two state solution - America and Red America. Conservatives can have it, please, just go away. Feel free to reinvent history, evolution, anything you want, just go away.

  At 8:00 a.m. futures are modestly higher, the dollar is up against major world currencies, and the price of oil is down per barrel. The market is poised to open in the mixed area although one suspects a more defined direction will arise as more data come through.

  Investors are pleased to see that Japan is planning on throwing out some stimulus money to kick its economy. Investors will also be parsing through data on the housing market and that will be telling.

CNN: Stocks to rise on Japan stimulus

The Bank of Japan said it would expand its asset purchase program by ¥10 trillion in an effort to stimulate its economy as global demand slows.

...the U.S. Census Bureau will release data on housing starts and building permits for August.

...existing home sales for August...