The Market On Tuesday

  Good morning. It is 0 degrees and hazy sunny here in the Upper Hudson Valley. The beat down February of 2015 continues, and I've been considering T-shirts that say "I survived February 2015" - needs some sort of freezing/snowy snappy logo. Regardless, the weather predictors are taunting us with the suggestion that next week, not this week, but next week there will be a break with days in the 30s. Are they just doing this to make us all fall in line, place a carrot in front of our collective nose, and then numb out? Paranoia raises it's ugly little head...

  At 8:45 a.m. ET DOW futures are slightly higher and the price of oil per barrel is ever so slightly higher too. The market is poised to open in the flat to slightly higher area.

  Three things caught my attention this morning. The first is Janet Yellen's upcoming monetary policy report to Congress. This is huge, end of story. It's the most significant financial piece for today. Second would be the emergency meeting being arranged by OPEC to discuss the drop in oil prices that is adversely affecting said OPEC country members, excluding the Saudis, and also notice the Saudis have no interest in attending said emergency meeting. If you've been following the oil story you know why. Third would be Putin's utterly ignorant and obnoxious talk of Armageddon concerning Ukrainian warring. What an a-hole of the first order. Let's politely say diplomacy is not his strong suit.

CNN: Stocks: 6 things to know before the open

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen will give her semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress this week. She will first testify before the Senate on Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET. Then she'll appear before the House on Wednesday at the same time.