Stocks Up For Third Week In A Row
Image: Bigstock
Stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, but the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq all closed up for the week, making it 3 weeks in a row.
Strong earnings continue to rally stocks. And we've got a lot more earnings season to go with another 1,087 companies set to report this week, 1,859 next week, and another 1,405 companies the week after that.
Stocks typically go up during earnings season. And that's definitely true, so far, for this earnings season as strong earnings and revenue have sent stocks soaring.
In other news, the PMI Composite Flash report came in at 57.3 vs. last month's 55.5 and views for 54.8. The Manufacturing Index dipped a bit to a still solid 59.2 from 60.7 and the consensus for 60.3, while the Services Index rose to a better than expected 58.2 vs. last month's 55.2 and estimates for 54.7.
We've got a full slate of economic reports on deck for this week, starting with the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, and the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey today.
This will also be the final week for Congress to take action on the infrastructure bill, and the reconciliation bill, if they are to meet their self-imposed deadline for the end of October. Several in Congress have already walked that timeline back. But it's still out there. We shall see.
Regardless of the timing, lots of negotiations are taking place regarding those two bills. And it still looks like something will get done eventually. I bring this up because once you start talking about trillions of dollars potentially being pumped into the economy, which is an enormous amount of money, that could have a profound effect on the economy and the market.
In the meantime, the market will also have to grapple with inflation, supply disruptions, and worker shortages.
And while we still have to contend with the virus, seeing the number of new cases continuing to drop, is definitely something to be hopeful about.
With stocks trading at or near their all-time highs, and plenty of bullish catalysts in the wings, not the least of which is an expected acceleration of GDP growth this quarter, it won't take much to send stocks even higher.
So make sure you're taking full advantage of it.
See you tomorrow,
Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research
|