Stocks closed higher yesterday with all of the major indexes up by 1% or more. The small-cap Russell 2000 led the way with 1.52%, followed by the Nasdaq with 1.23%.

And almost all of the indexes are back in the plus column for the year. YTD, the mid-cap S&P 400 is up 7.77%; the Russell 2000 is up 7.60%; the S&P 500 is up 0.60%; and the Dow is up 0.32%. The only index not quite there yet is the Nasdaq. But they only need another 0.25% to get back in the green YTD.

Reports over the weekend that the U.S.-Iran peace talks ended without an agreement, and the subsequent announcement that the U.S. would impose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, weighed on stocks in the morning.

But by day's end, they were all higher.

Reports that talks are still ongoing kept hopes alive that a longer-lasting peace can still be achieved. And that lifted the markets. Additionally, Pakistan, who hosted the weekend's talks, said the two countries were "very close ... even inches away from a solution." And President Trump on Monday said that Iran had "called this morning," and that "they'd like to make a deal."

I would also chalk up some of the market's strength to the start of earnings season.

First off, all of the above is taking place against a backdrop of a resilient economy, rising productivity, an AI boom that's very much alive and well, and forecasts for double-digit earnings growth for each of the next 4 quarters.

So it's no wonder that the start of earnings season has the markets buoyant. Stocks typically go up during earnings season. And that's the expectation, once again, for this one.

Even though the official start of earnings season doesn't begin until Wednesday, 4/16, when Alcoa reports after the close, plenty of earnings are streaming in throughout the week.

Before the open yesterday, Goldman Sachs reported a positive EPS surprise of 7.41%, and a positive sales surprise of 1.48%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 24.3% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 14.4%. While they were off -1.87% yesterday, they are up 1.34% YTD.

Today we'll hear from another 17 companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, and CarMax, to name a few.

In other news, today we'll get another look at inflation with the Producer Price Index (PPI ? wholesale inflation) report.

Last week's Consumer Price Index (CPI ? retail inflation) came in higher than the previous month, but better-than-expected with the headline rate at 3.3% y/y, while the core rate (ex-food & energy) was at 2.6%.

The PPI is expected to show headline inflation at 1.2% m/m vs. last month's 0.7%, while the y/y rate comes in at 4.7% vs. last month's 3.4%. The core rate is forecast at 0.5% m/m, in line with last month's pace, while the y/y rate comes in at 4.2% vs. last month's 3.98%.

The next FOMC meeting is on April 28-29. Virtually zero odds for a rate cut this month. You'd have to go all the way out to December just to get above 30% odds (30.7%). But the Fed has not changed their SEP (Summary of Economic Projections), which is forecasting one 25-basis point rate cut this year, and another one next year.

In the meantime, the momentum for the market has shifted back to the upside. And we'll see if the market can build on recent gains as the week goes on.

See you tomorrow,