Stocks closed lower again yesterday with the Nasdaq down -1.33%, the S&P 500 down by a more moderate -0.69%, and the Dow only off by -0.22%.

With earnings season winding down, other headlines are grabbing attention. (More on this in a moment.)

More than 90% of the S&P 500 companies have already reported Q2 results, and aggregate earnings are up 41.6% vs. this time last year, and are on pace to be up 43.3% when earnings season is over. Pretty spectacular. And stocks have soared as a result.

There's still another 229 companies on deck to report this week, including Analog Devices and Target today, Walmart and Deere tomorrow, and BJ's Wholesale on Friday to name a handful.

But earnings season will 'officially' come to a close next week when NVIDIA reports on Wednesday, 8/26 after the close.

Stocks were under pressure right from the start yesterday on headlines of higher oil prices and higher treasury yields. Oil ticking up, of course, is tied to Middle East concerns. That in turn could bolster inflation (even though recent evidence suggests it's not). Additionally, there are lots of headlines about the U.S. $40 trillion national debt, and the huge amounts of long-dated Treasuries to finance it, with investors demanding higher yields to absorb the supply.

But I should note, yields are climbing globally. Japan's 10-year hit a 30-year high, while Germany and France reached multi-year peaks, and UK gilts neared 28-year highs, which also put upward pressure on U.S. yields.

As for interest rates and yields, today we'll get the FOMC Minutes from the Fed's last meeting on July 28-29. We know that the Fed has been hinting at a possible rate hike if inflation were to climb higher. Gladly, inflation has been easing. But last week's inflation reports came out after the Fed's last meeting. Although, it was also easing prior to that. Either way, it will be interesting to see if there's any deeper insight on what the Fed policymakers were thinking at their last outing.

We'll also get the results of the Treasury Buyback Announcement (preliminary), the 4-month Bill Auction, and the 20-year Bond Auction.

Also on the docket are MBA Mortgage Applications, the Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations, and the EIA Petroleum Status Report.

And, as always (as of late), the market will be watching for any new news out of the Middle East.

See you tomorrow,