Stocks closed solidly higher yesterday with the big 3 indexes making new all-time highs in the process. The Nasdaq led the way with an outsized gain of 1.86%. The S&P was not far behind with 1.23%.

Optimism over a trade deal with the U.S. and China later this week in South Korea (ahead of the APEC summit), when President Trump talks with President Xi on Thursday, 10/30, is energizing stocks.

Despite rising tensions over the past couple of weeks between the two countries (China threatening to impose export restrictions on rare earths and the U.S. retaliating with proposed 100% additional tariffs, and the U.S. threatening to stop buying cooking oil from China after they stopped buying U.S. soybeans), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seemed upbeat about the upcoming meeting. He said that the proposed 100% tariffs are "effectively off the table," as well as "the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese worldwide export control regime." Mr. Bessent said the two leaders will discuss a "wide variety of issues."

Afterwards, their respective trade teams and representatives will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit being held on 10/31-11/1. All in all, 21 countries will participate, including Japan, Australia, and of course South Korea, where it's being held.

In other news, yesterday's Durable Goods Orders report was delayed due to the government shutdown. But we did get the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey, which showed the General Activity Index improving to -5.0 vs. last month's -8.7, while the Production Index was unchanged at 5.2.

Today we'll get the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the FHFA House Price Index, the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index, and Consumer Confidence.

We'll also get earnings from 171 companies on deck to report including United Health, NextEra Energy and UPS before the open, along with Visa, Booking Holdings and Mondelez after the close.

Tomorrow, 3 of the Magnificent 7 stocks will report with Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta reporting after the close. And then 2 others on Thursday when we'll hear from Apple and Amazon.

Should be a busy week of earnings.

Aside from earnings, the week will also be plenty busy with Wednesday's FOMC Announcement on rates. While the Fed is widely expected to cut rates yet again this month, investors will be anxious to hear if the Fed is still forecasting one more rate cut when they meet again in December.

Additionally, it's believed the Fed will soon call it quits on their balance sheet reduction or quantitative tightening (QT). There's lots of speculation that announcement could come on Wednesday. Like interest rate cuts, that would increase liquidity in the financial markets and is generally considered bullish.

Between U.S.-China trade talks, big earnings from marquee companies, and the Fed announcement(s), this is shaping up to be a big week indeed.

So far, the market is expecting the best as evidenced by yesterday's new all-time highs.

If all goes well, we'll see more of that as the week continues.

See you tomorrow,