The Market On Monday

  Good morning. It is 31 degrees and partly sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley. The forecast has the temperatures starting to look more seasonable and drifting to the 30s and 40s over the next week. Nights will go below freezing too. I hope you had a good refreshing weekend. It's time for all of us to get back on the good diet and push away from the rich and extra sweet food. I ate my share and I paid the late night heartburn price. We see that the GOP itself has become one of the better critics of Trump. Read these words by George Will on Trump - "If you look beyond Donald Trump’s comprehensive unpleasantness — is there a disagreeable human trait he does not have? — you might see this: He is a fundamentally sad figure. His compulsive boasting is evidence of insecurity. His unassuageable neediness suggests an aching hunger for others’ approval to ratify his self-admiration. His incessant announcements of his self-esteem indicate that he is not self-persuaded." No liberal has come close to this level of attack.

  At 9:00 a.m. ET futures are moderately lower and the price of oil per barrel is down around $37. The market is poised to open lower.

  Oil was a big topic in investment in 2015 and this will continue into 2016. With Iran entering the global oil export market the globe is awash in a glut of oil. It was only a few years ago that the notion of peak oil dominated everyone's thought process. Not so, oil is abundant and very cheap.

CNN: Stocks: 3 things to know before the open

U.S. stock futures are ticking lower at the start of a shortened trading week. Oil is down more than 1.5% to below $38 dollars a barrel, a decline driven by Iran's pledge to increase output.