It was the most amazing session for oil in years. It came at an odd time as they are still shutting down rigs in North Dakota and laying off people in Houston. Some say the reversal that saw oil up almost 6% for the session was related to oil option contracts expiring, but any sign of strength is a plus. No, I am not rooting for $100, but instead for equilibrium that keeps the drilling miracle alive, even as it comes under attack from Saudi Arabia and President Obama's newest rules on methane.

The downtrend is intact and will be until a move through resistance that begins at $55 through $57.  However, it was good for the stock market, which could have easily seen the Dow off more than 400 points. Speaking of miracles, a lot of people are still scratching their heads about the latest retail sales report.

Retail Miracle...Not Yet

Looking at the details, some are obvious like gas station sales swooning, but others are not, and the most important item is the massive difference between month-to-month changes compared to year-over-year.

Big Banks and Main Street

The other big news yesterday came from the banks. Two Powerhouses posted results.

Back to the markets and the message from earnings- first the banks. Wells Fargo (WFC) and J.P. Morgan (JPM) posted results yesterday and while both stocks were down, it is clear Wall Street was more disappointed with J.P. Morgan. Still, what about Main Street?

The message seems to be that people are reaching more for their credit cards, maybe the auto boom is fading, and no one is buying homes anymore. In fact, for WFC only 60% of originations were for purchases, down from 70% in the third quarter.

The Fed might be happy about increased credit card volume, but it had better come with higher wages; of course, I covered this already.

Today’s Session

This morning was packed with mixed economic data and we still have a few more reports to be released later today. Inflation continued its decline at the producer level in December thanks to lower energy costs. The producer price index (PPI), for total final demand decreased by 0.3% month-over-month in December, after falling by 0.2% in November. However, core PPI, which subtracts food and energy, rose by 0.3% month over month, slightly higher than the consensus estimate of a 0.1% gain. On a year-over-year basis, PPI final demand rose 1.1%, lower than the 1.4% gain experienced in November. Core PPI, year-over-year, rose a whopping 2.1% in December versus a 1.7% increase in November. All in all, inflation continues to exhibit signs of being under pressure which should prevent the Fed from tightening monetary policies in the near-term.

Corporate America provided positive earnings results across multiple industries. Below are some of the major companies that reported this morning: