Maybe it's wishful thinking, but the market may have bottomed out after two sickening thuds in the last two weeks. It showed its first weekly gains in 7 weeks. The weak euro, oil prices, and the slowing economy are the usual suspects, with the focus on corporate earnings. Several big techs, including Nokia, Microsoft, EBay and Sun, reported good earnings, which heartened the market. Fully 60% of those firms that have reported third-quarter earnings have come in above expectations.

The CPI rose 0.5% last month, a bit more than expected, and the core rate was up 0.3%, mainly due to clothes and cigarettes. The trade deficit came in less than expected on strength in exports. Fully two-thirds of the improvement in exports was due to high tech prodts.

Keep an eye on earnings, especially in high-growth industries. Analysts are tripping over themselves, revising earnings estimates for the fourth quarter down.