Coming Up On Wall Street

Good morning. It is 46 degrees, cloudy, and with a promise of sunshine later on here in Upstate NY. We have crossed into the chilly threshold and the space heater got its first chance to fix that effect last night. I refuse to turn the house heat on, that threshold has not been crossed although I do recognize that the enemy is starting to mass. Today its back to working on this old house and later this morning the chimney and fireplace will get inspected and cleaned. A fireplace is a good thing, it adds an ambient vibe to the living environment and reawakens an ancient connection.

The stock market has been surprisingly strong this last week. Five days of gains in a row and the world is rosy.

Next week Eurozone debt will continue to haunt the market although a strong temporary agreement on a temporary fix is holding back the flood. Something has shifted in the way that the investment community is worrying about this issue and much is tentatively positive right now but that could change.

In addition investors will be hearing from Fed Chairman Bernanke on long term interest rates. In case you have not noticed mortgage rates are at a low not seen in decades with the four percent area on a 30 year fixed loan being common. It could be time to re-fi. I suspect that the bar to qualify might be a tad higher given the over-extension of banks into scads of foreclosures and those banks that are not exposed also learned the Great Recession lessons.

Reuters: Bernanke, Europe hold key to aiding rally

"The Fed is really going to dominate next week..."


"Longer term, the market is looking better..."


Housing "is dead and it will stay dead...


...the euro zone debt crisis remains an uncertainty that could knock the market lower.