U.S. Stocks Take a Breather After a 2-day Advance, Oil Edges Lower

U.S. stocks are pointing to a muted open, putting the market on track to take a breather after a two-day advance which included the best day of the year for the NASDAQ. Commodities are quiet with oil, gold and overseas stock markets mixed and stable. A maverick in the energy industry, died in a fiery single car crash Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to rig bids for oil and natural gas leases. Former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon was a major player in the shale oil industry and reducing the US's dependence on foreign oil. Police say the investigation into what happened with take 2 weeks. Costco (COST) posted an 8.7% decline in second quarter profit, though the warehouse chain's same store sales increased, breaking a streak of declines. Challenger, Gray and Christmas releases February job cut announcements today. We get the weekly report on jobless claims and the Senate Banking Committee examines regulatory reforms for the equity markets.