The big three indexes closed mixed yesterday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500 down -1.07% and -0.51% respectively, while the Dow was up 0.41%.

All of the indexes were up earlier in the day, but they came off their best levels as the day wore on, with some turning negative by the close.

Big tech was the drag. The debate over AI spending remains front and center. Investors want to see that the enormous sums being invested in infrastructure will translate into higher sales, earnings, and cash flow. Demand remains strong. But last week's reaction to several big tech reports showed that investors are paying closer attention to how quickly those investments will pay off.

While those are real concerns, yesterday's weakness was still a bit surprising given that crude oil dropped by more than -7%, while long-dated Treasury yields fell with the 10-year dropping another 3.5 basis points at 4.894%.

After the close, Apple reported earnings and posted a positive EPS surprise of 3.54%, and a positive sales surprise of 1.35%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 10.8% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 11.7%. But they offered weaker than expected guidance for next quarter, putting rev growth at 7%-10% vs. the consensus for 11.4%. Apple said iPhone revenue came in at $57.58 billion, up 17% vs. last year at this time, and called the September-quarter a record. It should be noted that the reported quarter only included about eight days of iPhone 18 Pro Sales. As for the iPhone Duo, it was not on sale for the reported quarter. So we'll have to wait for the December-quarter for those numbers. Apple was off -1.83% in the regular session before earnings, and was trading down about -3.00% in after-hours following earnings.

Palantir reported after the close as well and posted a positive EPS surprise of 7.32%, and a positive sales surprise of 6.54%. That equated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 109%, and a sales growth of 95.8%. They raised full-year rev guidance to $8.53 billion vs. the consensus for $8.21B for a 3.90% lift. That would put sales growth at 91% y/y. They raised commercial guidance to $3.56B vs. estimates $3.42B, up 4.09%. They also noted that commercial revenue surpassed government revenue for the first time ever last quarter. And they raised Q4 revenue to $2.65B vs. expectations for $2.46B, up 7.7% above views. They were off -3.13% in the regular session, and were trading lower by -3.60% in after-hours.

Not all the earnings came after the close. Marriott reported before the open yesterday and posted a positive EPS surprise of 5.59%, and a negative sales surprise of -0.54%, for a quarterly EPS growth rate of 22.3%, and a sales growth of 8.01%. They raised full-year EPS guidance to a midpoint of $12.11 for a 3.2% increase above estimates. They noted that travel demand remains stronger than expected. They were up 4.26% yesterday.

Today we'll hear from 313 companies set to report.

Today is midterm election day. Regardless of politics, stocks typically rally after midterms. Since 1950, between election day and the end of the year, it's been higher 68% of the time. Looking out over a 12-month period from midterms, the odds improve even more dramatically with the S&P up every time with an average gain of more than 15%.

So I'm looking forward to a strong finish to the year. And another bullish year next year as well.

See you tomorrow,