Stocks closed mostly higher yesterday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way with a 1.64% gain, and making a new all-time high in the process. The S&P 500 (also pretty tech heavy) was next with 1.05%, and making a new all-time high close.

Investors brushed off reports of three more ships being fired upon by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, and instead cheered the news of the ceasefire extension.

The 10-day ceasefire was due to expire on Wednesday (yesterday), after the first round of talks failed to secure a longer-term peace deal, and the second round of talks were essentially canceled/postponed. But President Trump on Tuesday afternoon said Iran's government was "seriously fractured," and that the ceasefire would continue "until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal." But he also said the blockade would remain in place.

Nonetheless, the de-escalation, and hopes for an agreement on reopening the Strait, and eventually an end to the war has continued to lift stocks.

The ceasefire has also allowed stocks to focus on their key driver, which is earnings.

Yesterday before the open, we heard from Vertiv, which posted a positive EPS surprise of 14.7%, and a negative sales surprise of -0.27%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 82.8% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 29.9%, and attributed the strong performance to rising demand for data center infrastructure. They also raised full-year guidance for both sales and earnings by 0.36% and 3.08% respectively. They were down -2.34% yesterday. But are up 88.3% YTD.

After the close, we heard from Lam Research, which posted a positive EPS surprise of 8.09%, and a positive sales surprise of 1.26%. That equated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 41.3%, and a sales growth of 23.7%, citing record sales, earnings, and margins, with Lam's CEO saying AI-driven demand is reshaping the semiconductor industry. They were up 2.78% in the regular session before earnings, and another 2.45% in after-hours trade following earnings.

We also heard from Tesla. They reported a positive EPS surprise of 13.9%, and a positive sales surprise of 2.12%, for a quarterly EPS growth rate of 51.9%, and a sales growth of 15.8%. They didn't provide any sales or earnings guidance, but they did say CapEx would be $5B higher than previously expected for 2026. Tesla also expects to unveil their humanoid robot Optimus closer to the start of production, which is expected to be "somewhere around the late July, August time frame." They were up 0.28% in the regular session before earnings, and down roughly -0.30% in after-hours following earnings.

Earnings season continues with another 188 companies on deck to report today, including American Express, Lockheed Martin and Thermo Fisher Scientific before the open, and Union Pacific and Intel after the close.

On the economic report front yesterday, we got MBA Mortgage Applications, which rose 7.9% w/w with purchases up 10.1%, and refi's up 5.8%.

And the Atlanta Fed Business Applications report showed businesses expecting inflation over the next 12-months to be up 2.3% y/y vs. last month's 2.1% pace.

Today we'll get Weekly Jobless Claims, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index, and the PMI Composite Report.

And we'll see if the market can further build upon the extraordinary gains seen over the last 3+ weeks.

See you tomorrow,