Battered and bruised: What's next for investors?

Halloween is a little more than two weeks away, but the market seems pretty scary these days.

Among the unsettling news on investors' radars—the fear of a pronounced slowdown in ; instability in the Middle East and Russia; and new concerns about , as President Barack Obama postponed a campaign trip Wednesday to meet with Cabinet officials about the outbreak.

As concerning as those catalysts may be, Art Cashin of UBS said investors who are looking for insights into the stock market, shouldn't get too preoccupied with those developments.

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Instead, Cashin said the next move will likely be highly correlated to oil prices. "There's a clear link," he said on CNBC's "Closing Bell." "What happens in the energy markets on Thursday will be very important."

Meanwhile, Tom Lee of Fundstrat Global Advisors added the earnings released before the bell will also influence the tone. "Earnings and others fundamentals are also important," he said.

If they're relatively positive, it wouldn't surprise Lee to see stocks rally. "There are some very encouraging signs emerging. Small caps stabilized on Wednesday. And the surge in the , could be viewed positively," he said.

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In other words, modestly positive developments could generate a relief rally.

Meanwhile, if you're a long-term investor, Larry Haverty a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds suggested looking at the selloff as an opportunity. "The fundamentals are positive and consumers will get a Christmas present in the way of lower interest rates on variable rate mortgages," he said. "History tells me to be positive even though it feels bad."