Stocks closed lower yesterday as the markets took a breather after 4+ weeks of stellar gains.

From the conflict lows on 3/30, the Dow is up 7.82%; the S&P is up 13.0%; the Nasdaq is up 19.2%; the small-cap Russell 2000 is up 14.6%; and the mid-cap S&P 400 is up 10.1%.

It was a relatively quiet day yesterday.

The stalled Middle East peace talks are still stalled. The Strait of Hormuz is still effectively closed. But the ceasefire continues. As does the hope for an eventual longer-term peace deal.

Things should get more active as the week goes on, starting with this afternoon's FOMC Announcement.

The Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged today. The last rate cut was in December 2025, marking the third cut in as many meetings last year. The Fed has been on pause since then. Even though inflation has eased, it remains stubbornly higher than they would like. And the recent increase in energy prices isn't helping. But concerns over the labor market have since shifted their outlook to the prospect of easing again. The Fed, at their last meeting, was still forecasting one more 25 basis point rate cut this year, and another one next year. But the odds are for year's end. And there are many who wonder if the Fed will take that possibility off the table. The market will be listening for any clues as to what the Fed's next move might be and when.

Also of note, the Fed Chair Press Conference that follows the Announcement will be Jerome Powell's last, as his term ends on May 15.

Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh, who is expected to be confirmed as Chairman in time for Powell's departure, is believed to favor a rate cut sooner rather than later. But while he has influence over the committee, the Fed Chairman cannot unilaterally make a cut on his own. He needs a simple majority, which consists of 7 of the 12 voting members.

In other news, we'll get earnings from 4 of the Magnificent 7 today with Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta set to report after the close.

But we had some widely held names report yesterday.

Before the open yesterday, Coca-Cola posted a positive EPS surprise of 6.17%, and a positive sales surprise of 1.37%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 17.8% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 12.0%. They also lifted their full-year comparable EPS guidance. They were up 3.86% yesterday.

After the close, Visa posted a positive EPS surprise of 0.22%, and a positive sales surprise of 5.03%. That equated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 19.9%, and a sales growth of 17.1%. They were off -0.11% yesterday in the regular session before earnings, but were trading roughly 5% higher in after-hours following earnings.

But the earnings report that jarred the market yesterday came from a still private company, OpenAI. They reportedly missed their internal revenue and user growth targets. They are expected to go public later this year in what is expected to be a massive IPO. But the miss raised worries again for the industry as a whole, on whether large CapEx on data center builds, and the "buying as much compute as we can" strategy will pay off.

Today's earnings from the aforementioned tech giants may or may not answer that question. But you can be sure that worry will once again be center stage.

Should be a busy today.

See you tomorrow,