Stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, except for the Nasdaq, which gained 0.13%, and the small-cap Russell 2000, which gained 0.22%. It was also an uneven weekly performance with only the Dow and the S&P closing modestly higher for the week.

The big 3 indexes, however, are all trading within a few percent of their all-time highs.

Earnings season is winding down. We'll get another 353 companies on deck to report this week. But earnings season will officially come to a close when NVIDIA reports on Wednesday, 11/19, after the close.

But it's been another better-than-expected earnings season with quarterly EPS growth for the S&P pacing at 13.8%.

With the government shutdown over, we'll begin to get the updated economic reports that were absent due to the shutdown. We might get some backfilling of some reports. But others might be lost forever. Nonetheless, the resumption of recent reports that measure the economy is welcomed.

On Friday of last week, President Trump said he would be slashing tariffs on consumer goods such as coffee, cocoa, beef and bananas, amongst other items. Even though inflation has slowed, prices are still high, and unaffordability is still elevated.

In other news, some worry that AI is in a bubble.

But I am not one of them.

The AI trade is alive and well. And will likely be one of the key drivers for stocks for years to come.

The latest comment underscoring the AI trade comes from AMD CEO Lisa Su, who just last week characterized the demand for AI as "insatiable," said her company alone could grow by 35% a year for the next 3-5 years because of that. In fact, she said the AI market is "faster than anything we've seen before." And she predicted the AI data center market could grow to "$1 trillion" by 2030.

A resounding outlook for the scale of AI.

Here's a few more, by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang:

"AI is the most powerful technology force of our time."

"AI will revolutionize every industry, from healthcare to transportation."

"We are at the beginning of a new computing era."

Yes, AI stocks have moved a lot. Some are at high valuations. And that has caused some to pull profits and pare holdings.

But we are still relatively early in the AI revolution.

The amount of investment in AI will dwarf that of the dot-com era. In fact, it already has. And the unprecedented spending and innovation is expected to last for years to come.

If there's additional pressure on stocks, I would look at it as an opportunity to buy rather than places to sell.

Because I'm expecting a lot more upside to go.

And while AI transforms the world as we know it, the investment opportunity it offers also has the potential to transform one's portfolio.

And, like the dot-com tech boom in the late 90's, I see the same thing happening now with AI.

Back then we saw 5 years in a row of 20%+ gains for the S&P. From 1995 thru 1999 it increased by 220%.

Fast forward to the present: we just saw 2 years in a row of 20%+ gains (2023 was up 24.2%, and 2024 was up 23.3%), and I'm expecting another 20%+ gain this year (not to mention for the next 2 years after that).

And with Q4 being the best quarter for stocks, I'm expecting a strong finish to 2025.

See you tomorrow,