The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 59 degrees and sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley. We might get rain today. We see where the people of Hong Kong are demanding more democracy. Good for them, good for the world, good for all of us. On a lighter and smaller note, today the NY Knicks begin their actual team workouts for the upcoming basketball season. I will be looking at the tapes in slow motion, it's a lot of fun for me. Truth is I don't like football at all, I'm lukewarm on baseball, never even tried to understand hockey, but basketball, now there's a sport.

  At 8:00 a.m. ET futures are moderately higher and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open higher.

  Hard to believe but today will be the last trading day in September. We are moving into October, how time flies. Regardless, October will also bring third quarter corporate results and a new wave of data that will effect an otherwise slightly sagging market. Today investors will also be looking at housing prices and my favorite - consumer confidence. Let me ask you quite directly - are you consumer confident? I'm not so confident, I'm stuck with hospital bills galore.

CNN: Stocks: 4 things to know before the open

Hong Kong's main stock market index, the Hang Seng, kept falling Tuesday as large pro-democracy protests show no signs of abating.