Market On Right Foot

The S&P futures were trading up this evening,putting an optimistic sheen on the outlook for Monday morning.It was a mildly positive move for the stock market in the first trading week of the new year.Historically,that has been a good sign for the whole year.Although the employment report for December was a minor setback,the three-month performance is encouraging,showing an upward trend line.No one expected the recovery to be anything but bumpy.That is why the stock market wasn't crestfallen today.Alcoa begins earnings season on Monday in the traditional way,by being the first of the big companies to report on its Q4 results.Given the brisk economic activity in the emerging markets,it may well be a good mark for the materials giant.Market participants can enter their weekend with some degree of confidence in the early part of next week.Many of them will watch the NFL playoffs with a bit less worry than they experienced last year at this time.