Stocks soared on Friday and for the week.

On Friday, the Dow was up 2.68%, the S&P was up 3.06%, and the Nasdaq was up 3.34%. For the week, they were up 5.39%, 6.45%, and 7.49% respectively.

What a difference a week can make.

And from the correction lows (which were made the week before), the Dow is up 6.23%, the S&P is up 7.56%, and the Nasdaq is up 9.87%.

What a comeback.

There's still lots of work that needs to be done. But stocks were grossly oversold going into the week, and ripe for a rally.

And while worries over inflation, higher interest rates, and a possible recession persist, Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, last week reiterated the Fed's commitment to combatting inflation, and restating his position that 'the American economy is very strong and well positioned to handle tighter monetary policy.'

The Fed also, less than 2 weeks ago, in their FOMC Minutes, said they were expecting GDP to come in at 1.7% this year, and 1.7% again next year as well.

So whether we see a technical recession or not (a negative print in Q2 would do it), it would likely be short lived as the forecast is for another year of positive growth.

In fact, St. Louis Fed President, James Bullard, in an interview earlier this month, said he does not see a recession this year or next. And that he sees a "pretty good second half," driven by "strong consumption this year."

In other economic news on Friday, New Home Sales came in better than expected with 696K units (annualized) vs. last month's upwardly revised 629K (from 591K), and views for 587K.

Although, Consumer Sentiment dipped to 50.0 from last month's 50.2 and views for the same. Rising inflation and higher interest rates, no doubt weighed on these numbers, in spite of strong consumer demand and spending.

The gains last week were exciting.

But the market has been down in 17 of the last 25 weeks, leaving only 8 up weeks this year so far. That means there were more than twice as many down weeks vs. up. And the markets are still down -14.4% for the Dow, -18.5% for the S&P, and -27.7% for the Nasdaq.

So again, there?s a lot more work to do, and a long way to go.

Fortunately, there's plenty of positives in the economy right now (even though they've been virtually ignored during this sell-off). And eventually, the market will have to take notice.

Last week may have been the beginning of that.

And this week, if all goes well, could be a continuation of that.

See you tomorrow,