Stocks closed mostly higher yesterday, erasing most of the opening bell losses, and then some, by day's end.

The strike on Iran, which began on Saturday, has significantly increased tensions in the Middle East, and with it, plenty of uncertainty.

But there was a sense of relief, that in these early stages, the campaign was going well. But Iran continues to fire missiles at a number of countries in the Middle East. And the reports of U.S. casualties underscores the real danger that Iran still poses. But the Middle Eastern countries being targeted by Iran, have condemned Iran's actions, which has helped reduce fears of a widening Middle East conflict.

While questions remain on what ultimately happens to the price of oil, aside from yesterday's 7% jump, and what happens in the aftermath of all of this, like who will lead Iran, one of the main questions is, how long with this last?

President Trump has said it "could last four to five weeks," but added, it would continue "as long as it takes."

The stated objectives are to eliminate Iran's renewed nuclear threat, destroy their ballistic missile arsenal, degrade their proxy and terror networks, and cripple their naval forces.

This will unfold over the next several weeks. And the market will react as news comes in. Hopefully, it continues to go well. And the objectives are met as swiftly as possible with minimal loss of life.

In other news, it was nice to see NVIDIA go up yesterday, gaining 2.99%. They reported stellar earnings last week, but sold off afterwards, dragging much of the AI trade with it. But it was a silly reaction. They posted a quarterly EPS growth rate of 90.6% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 73.2%. They also guided Q1'26 revenue higher with a midpoint forecast of $78 billion, which is 8.14% higher than the analyst estimates of $72.13B. That makes it 11 quarters in a row of at least double-digit growth rates. Five of those quarters were triple-digit growth rates, with one quarter showing quadruple-digit growth. They once again showed the growth story in AI is real, driven by incredible demand for the transformational technology. So, it was good to see the stock back in the plus column as their numbers are nothing short of phenomenal.

Speaking of AI, a story that might have gotten lost last week, given the events over the weekend, is Anthropic losing their deal with the U.S. government. A disagreement over how it could be used, led the government to stop doing business with them, and designating a 6-month phase-out period.

OpenAI quickly stepped in to replace Anthropic, and to fill operational gaps.

After last week's Producer Price Index (PPI) wholesale inflation report showed inflation continuing to ease on a y/y basis, all eyes will be on Friday's Employment Situation report.

As you know, the Fed has a dual mandate, which is price stability (read low inflation), and maximum employment. So, Friday's report is the labor part of that dual mandate.

The next rate cut isn't expected until June or July at the earliest. But the Fed has repeatedly stressed they will remain data dependent. So, every report counts.

The Middle Eastern situation is one more thing the market has to concern itself with. But assuming the best, the underlying economy is strong, and with that, supportive for stocks.

And I'm expecting another double-digit gain this year.

See you tomorrow,