Stocks closed higher yesterday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each making another new all-time high. The small-cap Russell 2000 was actually the biggest gainer yesterday, soaring by 2.21% and making a new all-time high close.

Wednesday's after-hours earnings by four of the Magnificent 7: Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, confirmed that the AI trade is alive and well. Impressive growth rates and noteworthy metrics made for compelling earnings results for each. Even though some moved higher yesterday (Alphabet was up 9.96% and made a new all-time high; Amazon was up 0.77% and made a new all-time high as well), while others didn't (Microsoft was down -3.93%, and Meta was down -8.55%), concerns over increasing CapEx weighed more heavily on some. But all the reports confirmed the insatiable demand for AI compute.

We heard from another Mag 7 component yesterday when Apple reported after-the close. They posted a positive EPS surprise of 4.69%, and a positive sales surprise of 1.55%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 21.8% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 16.6%. Apple raised their revenue growth guidance, saying it expects 14%-17% rev growth this quarter, which was above Wall Street's consensus of 9.5%. They did not offer any CapEx guidance. But they have been one of the few big-tech companies (definitely the largest one) that has not participated in the "hundreds of billions" in AI-infrastructure spend. In fact, in the first half of FY'26, they only spent $4.3B. They were up 0.44% in the regular session before earnings, and were up about 2% in after-hours trade following earnings.

We also heard from Roku yesterday after the close as well. Not an AI company (there's more to stocks than just AI). They posted a positive EPS surprise of 67.65%, and a positive sales surprise of 3.80%. Earnings came in at 57 cents for the quarter vs. a loss of -19 cents last year at this time. Revenue jumped 22.4% to $1.25 billion. They also raised their full-year adjusted EBITDA outlook to $675 million from $635 million (a 6.30% increase). Roku's solid performance bodes well for CTV (connected TV) and CTV advertising/platforms. They were up 0.05% in the regular session before earnings, and were up roughly 7% in after-hours trade following earnings.

Today we'll hear from another 82 companies on deck to report.

In other news, we also got another look at inflation yesterday with the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. The headline number for March was up 0.7% m/m vs. last month's 0.4%, but in line with views. The y/y rate came in at 3.5% vs. last month's 2.8%, but also in line with views. The core rate (ex-food & energy) was up 0.3% m/m vs. last month's 0.4%, and in line with estimates, while the y/y rate was at 3.2%, up from last month's 3.0%, but again, in line with estimates.

We also got our first look at Q1'26 GDP. The advance estimate came in at 2.0%. Just under the consensus for 2.1%, but well above the 0.5% pace for Q4'25.

And Weekly Jobless Claims plunged -26,000 to 189,000 vs. last month's 215K and views for 212K.

With one more day to go, all of the major indexes are up for the week. And if all goes well, it will be the 5th up week in a row for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. And the 6th up week in a row for the Russell 2000.

Best,