The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is a cool 53 degrees and sunny this morning here in Upstate NY. Last week's rain has given way to a few gorgeous sunny days, we are back in paradise around here. Sorry to see Soprano's star James Gandolfini pass away, I enjoyed his work. We would watch the Soprano's with great anticipation usually in a marathon session using the DVDs. His death reminds me how fragile our lives truly are and how we need to appreciate our time here.

  At 7:50 a.m. futures are significantly lower and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open lower.

  Bernanke spoke on Wednesday and as you know the investment world reacted strongly to the disclosure that quantitative easing will be faded out with an allegedly improving economy. We have been told both sides of the equation - that equities are resilient or that we are in for a correction. Now we will really get to find out where we are headed, but I tend to think more on the pessimistic side in this regard. So barring an extraordinary first time layoffs number and extraordinary numbers on first time home starts, we are tanking again with a period of sell-offs.

CNN: Bernanke and China send world stocks lower

A weak reading on China's factories further rattled investors...

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank could slow the pace of its bond-buying program later this year if the economy continues to improve.

Reuters: End to Fed stimulus, China slowdown spark world sell-off

The initial catalyst for the selloff was Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's surprisingly strong commitment to end the central bank's asset-buying by the middle of 2014. That sent 10-year U.S. Treasury note yields to 15-month highs.