The Market On Monday

  Good morning. It is 31 degrees and the Sun looks like it really wants to come out here in Upstate NY. I hope you had a good weekend. I would describe mine as typical with grocery shopping, errands, relaxation, watching the Knicks and such. I think the big question on people's minds is will this week take on the qualities of the last, will this week be as off the wall as last. I'm betting no. I have no particular insight but I'm thinking society has gotten something out of its collective system and now peace can prevail. Alright, maybe not peace, but perhaps a temporary truce can exist.

  At 7:40 a.m. E.T. futures are moderately higher and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open higher.

  After a turbulent week in the stock market paralleling the week in the news, investors will once again be parsing first quarter corporate results for signs that the corporate economy is excelling. After today's close bellwether Caterpillar will present it's first quarter results. As Caterpillar is all about the global construction business, their results are especially important to gauging how the world economy is moving. In short, it's a very salient report for investors and we will be hearing about it in the news.

CNN: Stocks: More earnings in the mix

Caterpillar, in particular, is considered a bellwether for the global economy...

Japan's Nikkei rose 1.9%...