The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 47 degrees and overcast here in Upstate NY. The logos are calling for rain the rest of the week starting sometime today. The headlines this morning are distressing with tornadoes through the center of the country and a multiple shooting incident down in Georgia. There are of course multiple shootings occurring more frequently or should we say regularly and why some rise to the level of national news over others evades me. We are an armed nation and that will continue to escalate as there is nothing in the pipe to abate it only things to encourage it.

  At 8:50 a.m. ET futures are modestly higher and the price of oil per barrel is up. The market is poised to open higher.

  The indexes have been losing ground over the last month. The article suggests that the last few days of April could be a turning point. As no one can predict the direction of the market, it's as good a guess as any. Meanwhile first quarter corporate reports are the main order of business. The reports have been vying with the Russia-Ukraine crisis in a negative feedback cycle. I'm not sure much is going on to relieve pressure from this relationship other than diplomatic gestures AKA sanctions on Russia.

CNN: Stocks: Emerging from a month-long funk?

Earnings continue to dominate Tuesday's agenda.

In economic news, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index will be published at 9 a.m. ET. The Conference Board will publish its consumer confidence index at 10 a.m. ET.