U.S. stocks edge lower

In the first hour of trading the Dow is down about 50 points, or less than half a percent, which is not too bad considering that the Tokyo market plunged 6 percent today. Looks as if U.S. financial markets are still trying to sort out the ramifications of the disaster in Japan, both short and longer term. Meanwhile, oil prices continue to fall, with futures trading under $100 a barrel for the first time in a couple of weeks. The drop is due to expected lower demand in Japan, what with much of the nation's industrial operations off line for at least the next week or so. Of course, the concern is that at some point demand for oil will sharply increase and that will boost crude prices once again (meaning higher gas prices for us). But frankly, there's a lot of guesswork at this point.