Stocks closed lower yesterday as debt ceiling worries continue.

At the moment, all of the major indexes are down for the week with two more trading days left to go.

While both sides remain far apart, they insist the U.S. will not default.

In other news, investor favorite Nvidia reported earnings after the close and posted a positive EPS surprise of 18.48%, and a positive sales surprise of 10.5%. Moreover, they are forecasting Q2 revenue to soar to $11 billion (+/-2%), which is well above the consensus going into their report of $7.2 billion. NVDA is capitalizing on the huge demand for chips and servers as generative AI technology is set to transform how companies do business. NVDA was up more than 27% in after-hours trade.

Another investor favorite, Splunk, also reported after the close and posted a positive EPS surprise of 205%, and a positive sales surprise of 4.52%. They too raised guidance for the current quarter by 6%. They were up by roughly 10% in after-hours trade.

We'll get more earnings today with another 179 companies on deck, including marquee names like RH (Restoration Hardware), Costco, Best Buy, Ulta Beauty, and Dollar Tree.

On the economic report front yesterday, MBA Mortgage Applications were down -4.6% w/w, with purchases down -4.3%, and refi's down -5.4%.

And the Survey of Business Uncertainty showed business leaders expecting sales growth to increase by 4.70% over the next 12 months, up from last month's estimate of 4.58%. They see employment growth at 4.54%, up from last month's snapshot of 4.44%.

The FOMC minutes were released yesterday afternoon. In short it showed uncertainty about what to do at the next meeting with 'some' favoring more tightening, and 'several' favoring less. The desire to 'retain optionality' going forward was noted. Nonetheless, it appeared to tilt towards a pause, which was communicated earlier this month in their FOMC announcement.

Interestingly, the minutes also referred to the debt ceiling, saying, 'many participants mentioned that it is essential that the debt limit be raised in a timely manner to avoid the risk of severely adverse dislocations in the financial system and the broader economy.'

On the economic report docket today we'll get the second estimate for Q1 GDP, Weekly Jobless Claims, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index, Pending Home Sales, and Corporate Profits.

Stocks should get a boost today given yesterday's after-market beats. Let's hope there are no pre-market misses to undo it.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the debt ceiling, we could see some added volatility going into the 3-day Memorial Day weekend.

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