The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 24 degrees and sunny here in Upstate NY. Quite a bit of the snow from early December's huge storm has melted away the past few days and the ground is visible again. The high piles of snow from plows and such remain. Yours truly is still recuperating and will be for one to two weeks more. I'm interested in hearing what the doctor says when I go back for the last visit next week. I'm taking a lot less pain medication and can now gingerly take small walks up and down the block. I have been warned to go very slowly and to not lift anything more than a few pounds. I have no problem with slowing down.

  At 8:35 a.m. ET futures are slightly higher and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open in the flat to lower area.

  Wall Street closes at 1 this afternoon for the Christmas holiday. Usually on a day like today there is less trading, fewer traders, and sometime increased volatility as a result of the latter two points. What I'm reading is that there is a overall sense that the US economy is gaining. How this will all flush out on the future valuation of equities is unknown as always but at least the fear of an impending recession or worse is presently off the board.

CNN: Stocks: Not a creature was stirring...

Stock markets in New York will close at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday...

Investors have been feeling increasingly confident about the state of the U.S. economy...