The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 23 degrees and sunny here in Upstate NY. It's really cold and the ground is frosted over. Fans of NY basketball the world over are in free fall now knowing that their beloved team the NY Knicks is a sham. They lost another close one last night and blew opportunity after opportunity to win. It could be a long winter.

At 8:35 a.m. ET future are modestly higher and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open slightly higher.

Investors are surprised to learn that the Fed may indeed shut down quantitative easing without a significant improvement in the job market. With not much happening in the jobs market it seemed like a sure thing that q.e. would go on - not so. This morning Janet Yellen is set to get approved as the new Fed Chair and start a new reign in this most powerful of global positions.

CNN: Stocks: Zigzagging after Fed minutes

...the latest Federal Reserve meeting revealed that Fed officials may start winding down their stimulus program for reasons other than an improving job market.