After oil prices and concerns about the banking sector drove the equities market off a cliff yesterday, stocks now look set to stay where they landed. Futures are pointing sideways.

But talk about a vicious circle: With stocks under pressure, investors are parking their money in commodities … like yellow - and black - gold. U.S. crude is around $141 a barrel after exceeding $142.

The brokerage write-down guessing game isn't helping matters. A Lehman analyst now expects Merrill Lynch to take down the value of its assets by $5.4 billion in the second quarter. Until now, the highest estimate was $4.2 billion.

In data, we've got the Fed's favorite inflation measure -- core personal consumption expenditures - and a report on consumer sentiment.

The dollar is down against an index of major currencies. U.S. Treasuries are mostly higher.

General Ford Motor Co.? Business Week reports that GM management discussed, but shot down the idea of a Ford merger, which it said would end up combining the problems of the two automakers.