The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 36 degrees and cloudy here in Upstate NY. We are back to having a 99.5% snow free environment at least in my immediate area. The lawns are very brown but there's many signs of early Spring plants shooting through. The birds are singing to perfection. It's nice walking about and not having to be quite so layered all the time. In the news the most distressing points are emanating from the uncomfortable sense of war escalation with North Korea. We see that the USA is flying bombers in South Korea on drills but the feeling seems to be that there is a demonstration of power going on. Hopefully realistic minds will prevail. Just breathe.

  At 7:30 a.m. E.T. futures are modestly higher and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open higher.

  Shortly investors will see first time layoff numbers for the last week. The number has been in the 335,000 area and this represents a continuing very slow uptick in the jobs market. Investors will also get the final reading on the last quarter's GDP. One suspects that number will be telling and possibly a market mover. Otherwise the first quarter of 2013 is drawing to a mild close with Cyprus not quite out of the hot water but not in the utter chaotic state feared last week.

CNN: Stocks: Torrid first quarter coming to a close

The S&P 500 is poised to once again challenge the all-time high that it set in October 2007.

...final reading on fourth-quarter GDP.