The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. It is a balmy 60 degrees and rainy with an expanse of dark clouds here in Upstate NY. Rain, rain, sogginess, and grey clouds, that would apparently be the weather conditions for these parts into the unforeseeable future. Where is the sun? I know it's there and as they say even though the sky is dark with clouds, the sun is still shining. I saw lots of early morning activity on my walk. For some reason music was strong today with lots of kids walking around with little violin cases. I'm so happy to see that children are still playing instruments and taking lessons and all of that. On a related note, the guitar is losing popularity. The young crowd now makes music on computers, it's the computer that is the dominant musical instrument of choice. Recall that in this country's history, the accordion was once the most popular instrument.

  At 8:15 a.m. futures are flat, the dollar is mostly up against major world currencies, and the price of oil is down per barrel. The DOW is set to open in the flat to lower area except...

  I just read that ADP is saying the US added 162,000 private sector jobs in September. That number is an improvement, and if you listen carefully you can here cheers in the Oval Office. Yes this is an improvement for Obama and throw into that mix the other good news that many economists believe the housing market is back in good standing.

  The telling thing will still be the government's report on job creation in September, and this report is due out on Friday.

  Tonight I will watch the debate and although I still think Romney can win, unless Romney throws a knockout effort, the election is now Obama's to lose.

CNN: Stocks: Choppy trading ahead

At 8:15 a.m. ET, payroll processor ADP will report how many private-sector jobs were added in September.

Investors also remain on edge over Europe, specifically Spain, where there's mounting pressure for the nation to formally request a bailout.

...a report showing mortgage applications spiked last week.