The Market On Wednesday

  Good morning. It is 19 degrees and lightly snowing here in Upstate NY. The Bull Winter of 2014 continues on. I am startled, amazed I tell you, to see the weather logo suggesting that the temperature will go into the 50s on Monday 5 days from now. It will be like a scene from an Apocalypse movie, with millions of people coming out of deep dark shelters, squinting their eyes at the sun - a perplexing peace has suddenly arisen throughout the land. On cue, everyone kneels and prays, the celebration, dancing, and merriment soon follow...

  At 8:45 a.m. ET futures are flat and the price of oil per barrel is down. The market is poised to open flat to lower.

  It's not bad enough that the global economy is rattled by the Ukraine - Russian mess. There's more. ADP has just reported a less than stellar creation of jobs in the month of February. Recall that ADP puts out their report a few days before the all official government jobs report in February due on this Friday. Double whammy day - Ukraine is bad, jobs are bad. Initially the markets might dip but hope always springs eternal.

CNN: Stocks: Uncertainty over Ukraine lingers

The tense situation between Russia and Ukraine has left investors and traders uncertain about how to proceed after two days of extreme market volatility.

Reuters: Futures trim gains after ADP data

U.S. stock index futures trimmed gains after the ADP employment report showed private employers added fewer jobs than expected in February.