The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is foggy and 63 degrees here in Upstate NY. The forecast logo is showing thunder storms later on. The news remains focused on Antoinette Tuff, the school clerk in Atlanta that thwarted a potentially horrific school shooting by another utterly distraught and despondent young man. The amazing part is that she used her words, words of kindness and compassion, to talk him out of it. It was not a matter of the only thing that stops a bad man with a gun is a good guy with a gun. One suspects NRA people are furious over this - talk about another tragedy. Hopefully we will be hearing more about Antoinette Tuff and people will learn some valuable lessons here.

  At 7:00 a.m. ET futures are moderately higher and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open in the mixed area.

  I can't explain why futures are higher this morning, perhaps investors are taking a break from the market's last two week drop. A person of interest is emerging. Janet Yellen is a candidate for the Fed director's job and she will be at a symposium on monetary policy. Perhaps investors like her record.

CNN: Stocks: Ready for a comeback?

"If Yellen is indeed chosen to take the reins next year, it will be up to her to manage the Fed's move toward monetary policy normalization. With that in mind, traders will be keen to hear what she has to say on the matter of QE 'tapering'..."

Asian markets ended with mixed numbers.