The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 31 degrees and mostly sunny here in Upstate NY. The forecast has the temperature once again rising into the 50s and beyond in the upcoming week. The cold snap is passing and the remnants of the early spring snowfall is practically completely gone. Now the grass can get back to the work of getting greener and the first blooms of spring can occur. Get ready for more light yellow, white, and purple blossoms.

  At 8:40 a.m. ET futures are slightly higher and the price of oil per barrel is slightly up too. The market is poised to open higher.

  The good news of the morning is the weekly first time layoffs number, 304,000. It's still at pre-recession levels or close to it and that's a real improvement. Otherwise the tech firms are continuing to show distress. All in all, the week has been mostly in the green. This morning appears to be set to open well too.

CNN: Stocks: Caution returns as tech stumbles

...Google and IBM posted earnings that disappointed Wall Street.

Rising tensions in eastern Ukraine were adding to the unsettled tone.