The Market On Monday

  Good morning. It is 31 degrees and overcast here in Upstate NY. Mostly all of the remaining snow from the last storm of a few weeks ago is now gone. All that remains is the icy crusty remnants of snow pushed into piles by plows. The ground is brown and pretty hard. I suspect this is how winter is going to look around here from now on. We'll get the occasional snowstorm but most of the time there's no snow, it's like a dreary colder extension of the fall. Our memories of snow cover will fade. Regrettably this evening we will attend the wake of a much too young family friend who tragically died on Friday. We'll miss him, always remember to appreciate your many blessings.

  At 8:20 a.m. ET futures are modestly higher and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open slightly higher.

  The same Wall Street elements from last week remain in effect. With the tapering down of quantitative easing, the global economy is now adjusting to the reality of less cheap fluid easy liquidity. Beyond that there is a continuing wave of fourth quarter corporate reports along with a few reports on the overall health of the economy, in particular construction and manufacturing. There's a lot to juggle there and where the market closes at 4 is anyone's guess.

CNN: Stocks: No sign of a rebound

...U.S. Census Bureau will release its monthly report on construction spending at 10 a.m. ET.

Many emerging markets have suffered over the past few weeks as investors have moved money out of riskier markets in favor of relative safe havens.