HERE COMES INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS...

Heads up! We are minutes away from the release of weekly jobless claims figures, due out at 8:30 AM ET.

Economists predict initial claims filed in the week ended January 4 were 335,000, down from 339,00 in the previous week. Continuing claims filed in the week ended December 28 are expected to tick up to 2.85 million from 2.83 million the week before.

"It is tempting to argue that the claims numbers are settling after an extended period of extreme volatility, triggered by the California systems problems, the government shutdown and old-fashioned seasonal adjustment problems," says Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "But we think it makes sense to remain cautious."