WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW YORK - Stocks are in a holding pattern on Wall Street.

Among other things, traders are looking ahead to the unofficial start of corporate earnings season, which comes after the closing bell when Alcoa Inc. releases its fourth-quarter results.

They're also keeping an eye on the continuing debt crisis in Europe. The French and German leaders are meeting in Berlin to work on a regional fiscal treaty that would impose stronger oversight over the budgets of countries that use the euro.