The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 28 degrees and completely overcast here in the Upper Hudson Valley. Snow is expected today, Friday, and Saturday. It's pretty white out there right now from Wednesday's slush then snow strom. It's been a weird harsh week in the news. For me the torture memo just brings forward the memories of that incredibly ugly period of the Bush/Cheney regime. They pick low level sociopaths to run torture factories around the world and get legal clearing from, remember the guy, Alberto Gonzales. What a crock and what a miserable period in American history. Don't worry though, the American public has already forgotten about it and is quite willing to re-elect a neo-conservative based authoritarian as soon as possible.

  At 9:00 a.m. ET futures are moderately higher and the price of oil per barrel is once again down hovering just above $60 a barrel. The market is poised to open higher but energy stocks may fumble again.

  The oil shake out continues. How do we find peace with the flood of cheap oil around the world in a time when all wise parties are telling that same world to cut CO2 emissions or face incredibly dire consequences? Could there possibly be a more irritating and foolish Cheney based hooey in the face of global warming than a flood of oil right now at this instant. Reconcile that one, go ahead, tell me how you do that.

CNN: Stocks: 4 things to know before the open

Investors have grown increasingly nervous over the past few weeks as they consider how plunging crude oil prices will damage the oil industry and the energy boom that has helped the U.S. recovery.