The Market On Monday

  Good morning. It is 34 degrees and cloudy here in Upstate NY. The weather logos are showing a week of gray which is very typical for this time of year around here. Well one major holiday down and it went by quickly and pleasantly. The leftovers from Thursday are pretty much eaten and now we move back to a more realistic diet less dependent on the rich and sweet side of the menu. I was very sorry to hear about the Amtrak derailment and casualties down in the Bronx. I can't tell you how many times I've ridden that train through that turn. I even went to high school down in the Bronx for a while and got off at that very station. Whatever went wrong, it will be fixed, that line is very highly used.

  At 8:45 a.m. ET futures are flat and the price of oil per barrel is higher. The market is poised to open in the flat to slightly higher area.

  The articles all point to the same confluences occurring this week. Investors will be parsing all types of economic data all week long and getting a present state of the economy report through them. This all culminates in the government report on job creation this Friday. In a nutshell are we tottering at the peak and ready to slide down the hill or do we have more of a climb awaiting. This week will help to sort that out.

CNN: Stocks start December in cautious mood

The National Retail Federation reported that shoppers spent an average of 4% less over the holiday weekend, the first decline in spending since 2009.