Stocks closed sharply higher yesterday with all of the major indexes in the green. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 led the way with gains of 2.20% and 1.54% respectively.

News on Sunday night that Congress reached a bipartisan plan to reopen the government sent stocks soaring yesterday.

Sunday's vote to advance that plan was the first step in ending the government shutdown, which enters day 42 today.

Procedural steps began on Monday. The amended funding bill is expected to be voted on in the Senate later this week. If it passes, it goes back to the House for approval. And then finally to the President's desk.

This could all be completed as early as Wednesday. Unforeseen delays could slow things down a bit. But at the moment, there seems to be a strong desire to end the shutdown and let people get on with their lives.

In the meantime, some problems the shutdown has caused are still in motion. Such as air travel reductions. Due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, in part due to employees not getting paid, the FAA reduced flights by 10% at 40 of the country's busiest airports. Until the government is officially funded and people get paid, it's possible these delays could continue for a bit longer. But assuming the shutdown ends midweek, air travel should get back to normal shortly thereafter.

In other news, earnings season continues.

Before the open yesterday, Barrick Mining posted a positive EPS surprise of 1.75%, and a negative sales surprise of -1.80%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 87.1% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 23.1%. They were up 5.17% yesterday.

After the close, CoreWeave posted a positive EPS surprise of 79.5%, and a positive sales surprise of 6.77%. That equated to a huge earnings improvement, losing only 22 cents a share vs. -$1.82 last year at this time, and a sales growth of 133%, and a rising sales backlog. They were up 1.54% in the regular session before earnings, but were trading lower by -5.50% in after-hours following earnings. For context, they're up 164% YTD before reporting earnings yesterday afternoon.

We'll get another 232 companies on deck to report today with Sea Limited and AngloGold going before the open, and Oklo, Alcon and Amdocs reporting after the close, to name a handful.

The week is off to a solid start. And it puts the major indexes within striking distance of turning positive for the month.

As you know, Q4 is the best quarter for stocks. And with this being a post-election year, November also has a 72.2% likelihood of finishing up. (Since 1950, in post-election years, both November and December have a high probability of finishing in the plus column with a 72.2% likelihood for November and a 77.8% likelihood for December.)

We'll see if the market can add to their gains today.

See you tomorrow,