The Market On Monday

  Good morning. It is 30 degrees and overcast here in the Upper Hudson Valley. The forecast is predicting it will get into the 50s around here by Christmas Day. That is unheard of. Also it looks like the weather could be a little messy with lots of precipitation. At that temperature its rain and not snow but at the moment we have a dusting of snow from overnight. I hope you had a good weekend. I was over at the local Y yesterday running a few slow miles around the small track. The Y is a good place, it's worth the money and the effort to get over there.

  At 8:50 a.m. ET futures are moderately higher and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open higher and oil equities will once again be under pressure.

  The oil producer shake out and game of chicken continues with the Saudis telling the world f.u. we are not cutting production. And so the price of oil will continue to tumble until those ventures that have new stakes and new claims find it not profitable to continue pumping oil. It's going to be a wild 2015 in the stock market.

CNN: Stocks: 4 things to know before the open

Firmer oil is also helping Russian markets. The ruble is rising against the dollar, trimming its losses for the year to 42%.