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The futures market says our shares will be up 1.4% or more than 70 points this morning, but I'd also keep a close eye on commodity stocks like Rio Tinto, Oz Minerals, BHP Billiton, Woodside, Santos and Newcrest because another poor night for commodities Friday night is going to be a telling factor.

The stock market has been all over the place in recent months. Rising food and oil prices, the sub-prime mortgage and banking mess, job losses and the falling dollar have all contributed to a less-than-rosy outlook on both Wall Street and Main Street. With stock market analysts now declaring an official Bear Market, many investors are wondering what is going to happen with their portfolios, where to put their money now and if they will ever see 13,000 Dow again.

Gavin Anderson & Company's second annual survey of leading IPO attorneys found them far more optimistic than in 2007 that the U.S. will retain its share of global equity issuance. Globally converging accounting standards and the prospect of further relaxation of U.S. regulations affecting foreign issuers were important factors in the change in view.

NYSE Euronext (NYX) reported strong growth in transaction volume across its products and exchanges during the month of July 2008 compared to July 2007. NYSE Euronext’s cash equities and derivatives exchanges in Europe and the U.S. reported their busiest July ever with substantial increases in both total volume and average daily volume across products and geographies.

NYSE Euronext reported net income of $195 million, or $0.73 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, a $34 million or 21% increase as compared to net income of $161 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

Wall Street finished the week cautious and wondering where to go to next. Figures out Friday suggested that the US slowdown might be easing with better-than-forecast reports on durable goods orders, consumer confidence and new-home sales.

If you are not equipped with the right tools, it can be a tough time to be an individual investor. Since the beginning of 2008, the S&P 500 stock index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are both down by over 14 percent. Further, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released on July 7, 2008 showed that 75 percent of Americans feel the economy is in a recession. The bear market, combined with these strong recession fears, has caused many investors to abandon the markets to protect their portfolios.

There was only one IPO each in the months of April, May and June. There were a total of 24 IPOs in the first six months of the year, the lowest number since the three markets for emerging companies were created. To be honest, there has inevitably been less and less to write about in this report each month.

What no one wanted a week ago, helped send the US market higher for the first time in six weeks last week, but oil's sharp 11%-plus fall was the major influence and shouldn't be under-estimated as having bolstered the market's confidence at the right time to allow nervy punters to move back into US financial stocks (and those in Australia for that matter, and Europe as well).

Markets should open lower to flat according to futures trading overnight, continuing the weaker trend of yesterday when it dropped by just over 1%. Oil finished over $US145 a barrel, gold rose and the US dollar eased against the euro to more than $US1.59.