The Market On Friday

  Good morning. It is 51 degrees and relatively sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley. A sunny day with temperatures in the 60s is expected. After today the forecast is predicting a downturn in temperatures as we race towards Winter. I hope you had a reasonable to outstanding holiday. We certainly did and this year I tried with partial success to limit my feasting. The stomach was still rumbling last night and today I will attempt to clean up my dietary act. The streets are calm this morning with many people taking the day off, shopping and relaxing. On a positive note, I did a good job of staying away from the miserable news on Thursday. Expect to see Christmas decorations very soon.

  At 9:00 a.m. ET futures are up and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open higher.

  Three things come to mind surrounding today's market activity. First, today is as we know Black Friday, and the shopping frenzy is in full bloom. I stay away from that stuff as it has no appeal to me, I have more than enough junk. Regardless, the market is consumer driven, not people driven, we are consumers in a producing material world and the quantity of goods purchased today will be reflect in the indexes shortly. Second, notice that oil cannot seem to rise above $43 per barrel. OPEC is cranking the stuff out at a glut pace and many believe we will in fact see a further descent of oil prices. How this will effect the struggle between alternatives and carbon based energy is to be determined. Cheap oil tends to inhibit gas mileage and economy in cars, along with power generation. Third, because it is an in-between day, many investors are not working today. When fewer investors work the market tends to be a little more volatile.

CNN: Stocks: 5 things to know before the open

Oil prices are falling by more than 2% to around $42 a barrel. OPEC meets a week from today and the cartel is expected to keep pumping crude at full tilt, despite a continuing global glut and the prospect of a sharp increase in Iranian exports next year.