The monthly retail sales just came out, and they were much stronger than anticipated.
Equity futures were already green. The news spiked every single market down really hard for about a millisecond, then it bounced right back up again. As has been the case all year, stock indexes are at their highest levels in history.
Earnings from the banks continue to be the focus, with Morgan Stanley and Schwab looking soft pre-market.
In contrast with stock futures, crude oil continues to be rather weak.
Looking longer-term at crude, it seems to be finishing up a topping pattern similar to the one we saw in the spring of this year.
