Stocks Mixed as Oil Falls

Stock futures pointed higher hoping for some relief from yesterday's debacle.  Stocks opened flat with poor reports on housing starts and a flat core Consumer Price Index number to consider.  Oil flowed all the way down to $80. per barrel after having been as high as $88. just a week or so ago.  The Dow Jones average wound up closing down 15 points while the NASDAQ was up 6  and S & P 500 gained just a fraction.  Tomorrow is a big day for GM with its initial public offering selling shares to raise money to pay back the government.  It will be interesting to see how that is perceived by investors.