The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 54 degrees, darkly clouded, and there is also a hint of sunshine here in the Upper Hudson Valley. Last night we had a real downpour going on, there was thunder and lightning too. Tomorrow it gets really cold for the day so one might expect it to get icy. Then it's back to the mild Winter of 2015-16 from the weekend on out. Are you steeling yourself for a GOP Trump presidential run and a potential Trump presidency? I'm still in shock about that reality and I can only think about it a little at a time, otherwise I kind of get sick.

  At 8:50 a.m. ET futures are modestly higher and the price of oil per barrel is down trading around $31.50 a barrel. The market is poised to open slightly higher.

  Chinese stocks are under a lot of pressure today and have dropped in value. This has affected the global market and right now there is a pretend calmness in the futures market, a holding pattern is temporarily in place.

CNN: Stocks: 5 things to know before the open

Chinese index down over 6%: The benchmark Shanghai Composite index plummeted 6.4% on Thursday, snuffing out a recent recovery rally in brutal fashion. Now losses for this year are close to 23%.