Unfazed: That pretty much sums up the Market’s response to the ongoing conflict with Iran. The price of crude surged back above $100 this week. The Market barely blinked. It’s been trying to move past the conflict. Politics and geopolitics definitely can influence price action. But more than anything else, it’s earnings that drive stock prices. We are smack dab in the middle of Q1 Earnings Season and this was the biggest week. The Tech Titans took the field. This, in addition to a Fed meeting, a Royal visit, new data for the U.S. Economy and a surprising OPEC departure. It was quite a week. In the face of so many issues, risks and events, the Stock Market remains all Bulled-up. Here’s another rapid rundown of what happened and why it matters...

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced he is stepping down. This was both a surprise and no surprise. The more you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Tim Cook has done a masterful job of managing the company for the last 15 years, after taking the reins from Steve Jobs...

The remarkable run this Spring continued as the Stock Market shook off the concerns surrounding the Middle East and hit fresh, all-time highs. The S&P surged in April as fast as it fell in March. These V-shaped moves have become quite familiar. Excesses get corrected quickly, clearing the decks for a swift recovery. It happened during Covid. That’s what went down last Spring around the tariff tantrum. That’s precisely what’s happened around the conflict in Iran. It goes from Bull to Bear, back to Bull in a flash. The Oil down, Stocks up tether is firmly in place. Right now, this Market is all Bulled up...

Volatility continues. The Stock Market this Spring has behaved like few times in decades. Prices have moved ferociously, in both directions. Oil up, Oil down. The price of Oil has been driving all things Market-related ever since the conflict in Iran began. The damage is palpable. But the Market seems to be looking past the now and onto what’s next. Of course, that is anything but clear. I’ll try to make some sense of it. The answer is found somewhere between the Middle East and the Dark Side of the Moon...

Correction remains the theme on Wall Street as the price of Oil is seemingly dictating all. WTI is back at $100. The price action has been pretty simple: Higher Oil has forced higher yields and lower stock prices. It has blanketed the Global Market. The Market often ignores geopolitics. Not this one. The military conflict in Iran is impossible to ignore. The impact is being felt wide and far...

It’s been a week since the United States and Israel launched the attack on Iran. Emotions are running high. No surprise, politics are running rampant too. It’s an unfortunate fact that politics seemingly dictate everything these days. I’m not getting into politics here. My goal is to focus on the facts as we understand them and try to anticipate where things are headed. As always, my focus is from a Market standpoint. There are plenty of political opinions out there to chew on. One thing is clear, America’s military prowess and intelligence agencies are second to none. That’s something that pretty much every American can agree upon...

Earnings Season is coming to an end. Corporate America has turned in their report cards for Q4, which closes the books on 2025. Over 95% of the S&P 500 companies have reported. The results have been good. In fact, they’ve been outstanding...

So much for a sleepy Friday. Those don’t seem to happen anymore. This week was eventful in many respects. I say this often, there’s plenty of material for me to cover on a weekly basis. Today was a particularly unique and eventful day. It moved Markets. It moved expectations. It moved moods. It went down like this: