Stocks closed sharply higher yesterday with all of the major indexes in the green. The small-cap Russell 2000 led the way with an outsized gain of 2.00%, completely erasing their loss from Tuesday, and making a new all-time high in the process. The mid-cap S&P 400 was not far behind with a gain of 1.76%, and making a new all-time high as well. The broader S&P 500 was up 1.16%.

President Trump, speaking at the 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland yesterday morning, said what the market was hoping to hear ? that he "won't use force" on Greenland. The markets, which were trading lower in early morning futures, immediately turned higher.

As the day wore on, stocks continued to add to their gains.

Later in the day, after meeting with NATO members, the President said they have "formed a framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region." He followed up by saying, "based on this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1^st."

Stocks rallied further on the news.

How long a deal takes, or if it comes to fruition, remains to be seen.

But for now, the markets breathed a sigh of relief and surged in response.

In other news, yesterday's MBA Mortgage Applications rose 14.1% w/w with purchases up 5.1%, and refi's up 20.4%.

Yesterday's Pending Home Sales Index slipped -9.3% m/m vs. last month's upwardly revised 5.7% (originally 3.3%). The index came in at 71.8 vs. the prior reading of 79.2.

And the Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations (for the year ahead) eased to 2.0% y/y vs. last month's 2.2%.

Today we're expecting to get the third and final estimate for Q3'25 GDP. The last one (second of three estimates) came in at 4.3%, which is the current consensus. We're also expecting to get Weekly Jobless Claims. And the Personal Income and Outlays report (which includes the Fed's preferred inflation gauge -- the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index). (Although, it will essentially be a look back to October and November, which were also delayed last year due to the shutdown.)

Earnings season continues. Yesterday, before the open, Johnson & Johnson reported earnings and posted a positive EPS surprise of 1.23%, and a positive sales surprise of 1.84%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 20.6% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 9.06%. They were off 0.09% yesterday.

Halliburton also reported before the open and posted a positive EPS surprise of 27.8%, and a positive sales surprise of 4.64%. That equated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of -1.43%, and a sales growth of 0.80%. They were up 4.05% yesterday.

After the close, Kinder Morgan posted a positive EPS surprise of 5.41%, and a positive sales surprise of 2.11%, for a quarterly EPS growth rate of 21.9%, and a sales growth of 13.0%. They were up 2.22% in the regular session before earnings, and were up by more than 1% in after-hours trade post-earnings.

Today we'll hear from another 91 companies, including GE Aerospace, Procter & Gamble, and Freeport-McMoRan before the open, followed by Intel and Intuitive Surgical after the close, to name a handful.

And we'll see if the market can carry over yesterday's strength into today.

See you tomorrow,