The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 12 degrees and cloudy on New Year's Eve Day here in Upstate NY. Looks like we've got a few cold days ahead, followed by some warming. Here we are on the cusp of another new year. For some reason I clearly recall the change to 2000. Remember that. Everybody thought that computers would fail and that mayhem would follow. Now it's a whopping 14 years later. How time flies. I actually like the changing and movement of the years. Somehow this allows you to put it all behind you, enjoy the memories of the delicious moments and just let go of the pain of the harder ones. We're human beings, we can do that.

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

  Well we can definitely say one thing about 2013, it was a great year to be invested in equities. Contrary to the great fear surrounding the stock market, stocks are perched at all time highs. Not only that but the signs at least for the moment point to more gains in 2014. Quite a bit can still go wrong, as we know. Capitalism is a remarkable creature, it can run its course and then change directions and run the hell out of a new course over and over and over. New markets are created, resources are burned up, old markets wither away, and the environment and the poor take it on the chin. Welcome in 2014.

CNN: Stocks: Ready for one last record close?

The latest edition of the Case-Shiller 20-city home price index will be released at 9 a.m. ET Tuesday. At 10 a.m., the Conference Board will release its monthly consumer confidence index.