The Market On Friday

  Good morning. It is 31 degrees and cloudy with breaks of sunshine here in the Upper Hudson Valley. The temperature will get into the high 30s this afternoon. Monday's temperature in the 50s is right around the corner, oh boy. I did watch a bit of the GOP 'debate' last night, and I was happy to see that the elephant was not in the room. Once again Rand Paul in my opinion came across as the only candidate marginally making any viable sense. Is Ted Cruz a trip or what! He is the slipperiest thing out there. The moderator may very well have read a random paragraph out of Reader's Digest ending with a question mark inflection as to imply a question was being asked. And Cruz would simply avoid and redirect to whatever nonsense he believes people want to hear or he thinks is important as a campaigner. Cruz is extremely unimpressive. It strikes me that if the American people apply a tiny modicum of common sense with either Cruz or the big elephant not in the room as the GOP nominee, then the Dems should win easily.

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

  Check out Japan's Central Bank, they are reducing that country's base interest rate into negative territory in attempt to stimulate Japan's economy. That is crazy stuff man, I mean I'm sure economists around the world are going to savor this move like a fine wine. When do you ever see this. It will be like a little kid looking at an ant under a microscope.

CNN: Stocks surge on Japan's negative rates surprise

The Bank of Japan ...The central bank announced Friday that it will introduce an interest rate of minus 0.1%, and will go even lower if needed.

In theory, negative rates encourage consumers to save less, and borrow and spend more. They can also weaken a country's currency, helping exporters.