The Market On Thursday

  Good morning and welcome to November. It is 44 degrees and cloudy with rain expected here in Upstate NY. Last night we had trick-or-treaters ring the bell for candy. We were prepared for a regiment of people and got more like a basketball team number. Here's the bottom line - my diet last night consisted of pizza and candy bars. Let's just say I went 'off the range' diet-wise. One suspects that I will pay the price for that intransigence, I did and am. Speaking of intransigence, how about Christie praising Obama for Obama's deft handling of Sandy via FEMA. One can feel the hatred and utter contempt of conservatives ready to strangle Christie at this particular point in time. Here's my take. Christie wants Romney to lose so he, Christie, can run in 2016. On the other hand, Christie seems truly wired and concerned about the massive and tragic destruction that Jersey is really experiencing. The pictures are jaw dropping. They have billions in damage and it will take years for Jersey to completely recover. So there is some genuine non political activity occurring at the government level here, believe it or not.

  At 8:30 a.m. futures are flat, the dollar is down against major world currencies, and the price of oil is up per barrel. The market is poised to open in the flat to higher area.

  Investors will be parsing a very large pile of economic indicators today along with more third quarter corporate reports. It's hard to understand exactly which reports take precedence and propel the market up or down. That's why we read the financial news to get an understanding of this process.

  Bottom line - Friday brings the all important government report on job creation in October. This is where it's at politically and it will have impact on Tuesday's election.

CNN: Wall Street in wait-and-see mode

Reports due before the start of trade Thursday include planned job cuts, private sector jobs and initial unemployment claims, in a prelude to the government's monthly jobs report on Friday.

...nonfarm productivity, manufacturing, consumer confidence, construction spending and auto sales.