The Market On Thursday

  Good morning. It is 54 degrees and it's sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley. The weather forecast is predicting a warmer day in the high 60s, we might even hit 70 degrees this afternoon. Plant life is perking up all over the place, the little purple, yellow, and white flowers are everywhere. It's the last day of March and time is not stopping for you or me, time is flying.

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

  After a very strong day in the stock market on Wednesday, Thursday is beginning with a breather as it were, it's time out. Notice that in spite of a very rough January, the DOW is slightly up over the year to date.

CNN: Stocks: 4 things to know before the open

The Dow is currently up 1.7% for the year after enduring steep losses in January. The S&P 500 has also notched a 1% gain.