Stocks closed mixed yesterday in uneven trade. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both eked out new all-time highs. But the small-cap Russell 2000, mid-cap S&P 400, and large-cap Dow fell -1.36%, -0.90%, and -0.70% respectively.

Alphabet's better-than-expected earnings late Wednesday afternoon, where they posted both top and bottom line positive surprises and an eye-popping 171% quarterly EPS growth rate, helped buoy the tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500.

Although, Tesla's negative EPS and sales growth, along with forecasts for a few more tough quarters, dragged on the market.

But I'd say the growth shown in Alphabet's numbers and the positive implications for tech and AI is more representative of the economy, than Tesla's current difficulties, which is more indicative of their own unique situation (as temporary as it may be), rather than a statement on the economy.

Today we'll hear from another 67 companies on deck to report, including HCA Healthcare, Southern Copper, and Phillips 66, to name a few.

Next week will be even busier with 966 companies set report, including 3 more Magnificent 7 stocks: Microsoft, Meta and Apple.

In other news, yesterday's Weekly Jobless Claims fell -4,000 to 217K vs. the consensus for an increase to 225K.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index improved to -0.10 vs. last month's -0.16. The 3-month moving average came in at -0.22.

The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index improved as well, coming in at 1 vs. last month's -2.

The PMI Composite report showed the Index at 54.6, up from last month's 52.9 and views for 52.3. The Manufacturing Index slipped to 49.5 vs. last month's 52.9 and estimates for 52.7, while the Services Index increased to 55.2 vs. last month's 52.9 and expectations for 52.7.

And New Home Sales ticked up to 627,000 units (annualized) vs. last month's 623K, but under the consensus for 650K.

Today we'll get the Durable Goods Orders report, and the Baker Hughes Rig Count report.

News on Tuesday evening of a trade deal with Japan helped lift stocks on Wednesday.

With the August 1 deadline fast approaching, there's hope that a trade deal with the E.U. will be forthcoming next. The European Union, as a bloc, is our largest trading partner, and more than 4x that of Japan, who is our fifth largest trading partner (behind the E.U., Mexico, Canada and China). If the reaction to the Japan news was good, news of a deal with the E.U. should be even better.

With 1 more day to go, all of the indexes are in the green for the week.

And a little bit of good news today could help keep it that way.

Best,