Stocks closed solidly higher yesterday with all of the indexes up by 1.10% or more. The Dow made a new high since their October 13 key upside reversal. The S&P made a new high close since their reversal day as well.

Today is the last trading day before the markets close tomorrow for Thanksgiving.

But trading will resume on Friday, albeit for a half day.

Word that another railroad union has rejected an agreement that has been months in the making, brings the total to four. So 8 of the 12 unions appear to be happy with their contracts. But 4 are not. However, they have signaled that they are all willing to keep negotiating. The market has not been impacted by these snags yet. And may never be, as long as these 4 unions can come to an agreement. A strike would have an economic impact on the economy. A short one, not so much. But if it dragged on, then definitely. For now, the parties are willing to keep at it. And that's a positive for the market, or at least, not a negative.

In other news, yesterday's Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index improved to -9 vs. last month's -10, but it came in well below the consensus for -1.

Today we've got a busy day of economic reports as both Wednesday's reports, and those that were scheduled for Thursday, will be released today as well. On tap are MBA Mortgage Applications, Durable Goods Orders, Weekly Jobless Claims, the PMI Composite report, New Home Sales, Consumer Sentiment, and the FOMC Minutes.

As mentioned yesterday, airline travel is expected to surge to the highest level in three years over the Thanksgiving holiday. Today is expected to be the second busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving holiday, only to be outdone by the Sunday after Thanksgiving as travelers make their way back home.

Then everyone will turn into shoppers on Black Friday and then Cyber Monday.

With the market finally going back up, investors all have something to be grateful for.

And if the seasonal tendencies are any indication of what's to come (Q4 is typically the best quarter for stocks, and the post-midterm moves in the market show that since 1950, stocks have always gone up in the year after midterms, with an average 12-month forward return of 18.6%), there could be a lot more to be grateful for in the coming months.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday.

See you on Friday,