The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 36 degrees and raining here in Upstate. Yesterday's several inches of snow are now slush and a lot of sogginess. The snow covering is dissipating and the ground grass is starting to once again reemerge. My friends in New York City are already enjoying some of the early spring flowers. Remember those early flowers. Well, if NYC is getting them now, we are not too far behind. Looking ahead at the forecast, temperatures in the 40s are expected over the next 10 days and we could really use a little sunshine.

  At 6:30 a.m. E.T. futures are flat and the price of oil per barrel is slightly higher. The market is poised to open in the flat to slightly higher area.

  As you know the DOW is at present above 14,000, so everything is pretty fluffy. Investors will be parsing data on employment, the GDP, and corporate results today. I have to say, we all expect the "other shoe" to drop at anytime, right. We are trained to expect volatility and to a certain extent we anticipate it. However at present the surprise seems to be in the market's strong performance.

CNN: Stocks: Economy, earnings back in focus

(Today) the Commerce Department will publish its second estimate of fourth-quarter GDP.

...European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that suggested the bank had room to relax policy further.