The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 66 degrees and sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley. Rain and thunderstorms are once again predicted for later today. Tonight I am hosting a chess club at the library, if you might be interested, stop in between 7 and 9.

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

  The weekly first time layoff number just came in at 289,000 which is the lowest it's been in almost a decade. This is decent news. Otherwise the shakiness continues as Russia imposes some of it's own sanctions on imports. These sanctions will rattle the E.U. economy as Russia is a big trading partner. This type of global dis-ease is tanking the market lately and looks to continue. Perhaps investors will overlook it today.

CNN: Stocks: 6 things to know before the open

Russia has imposed a ban on imports of beef, pork, fruit and vegetables, poultry, fish, cheeses, and milk from Europe, the U.S., Australia, Canada and Norway in retaliation for Western sanctions.

The escalating trade war threatens Europe's fragile economic recovery and is hurting some companies.