Okay, folks, the moment of truth has arrived. Earnings season kicks off this week with a parade of banks reporting, and President Trump signing ‘Phase One’ of the U.S. - China Trade Deal. I like that he continues to talk about ‘Phase Two’ and his plans to go to Beijing very soon to kick off those discussions.

Earnings are going to be more important than usual, and the last grasp for bears that have been so wrong and so miserable. Investors must get better visibility and hear a more confident tone from CEOs. Note: these estimates are from FactSet, which has great information, but their numbers don’t move stocks.

The Message of the Market

The market ran flat out of gas last Friday, but it’s been such an amazing leg of the decade long rally that it’s understandable. 

The message of the year, however, is that it’s clear Technology and Communication services will keep rocking. The reason why is that we are entering a world that needs unlimited cloud, faster data rates, and unlimited computer chips. Case in point: the all-electric plane on the drawing board at Rolls-Royce.

ACCEL will have the most power-dense battery pack ever assembled for an aircraft, providing enough energy to fuel 250 homes or fly 200 miles (London to Paris) on a single charge. Its 6,000 cells are packaged to minimize weight and maximize thermal protection. An advanced cooling system ensures optimum performance by directly cooling cells during the high-power record runs.

Rolls Royce

Portfolio Approach

Today’s Session

The markets are starting the week on a positive note with all the major indices in the green. 

This morning, Five Below (FIVE) is getting hammered after warning that sales and profits for the 4th quarter will fall short.  The company states that much of this was due to 6 fewer shopping days in this quarter’s report.   The shares are down significantly this morning. "While our comparable sales during key holiday selling periods were positive, they were not strong enough to overcome the headwind of six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and overall sales did not meet our expectations," said Chief Executive Joel Anderson.