Thursday was the kind of session that sets up bigger sessions. The market surged out of the gate, meandered, pulled back, and found a second wind. By midmorning, it was all systems go, as the Dow powered ahead by 410 points when breaking news about Gilead’s (GILD) antiviral drug remdesivir dropped on the market like a ton of bricks.

A leaked report posted by the Financial Times sapped the excitement that the drug could be a possible treatment for COVID-19 (and in the process) derailed the rally. Gilead management dismissed the report, which stopped its share price mid-freefall, but the broader rally wilted into the closing bell.

Although the rally was erased, investors can take solace in the session. The market put the brakes on when all the major indices were going to turn red, and buyers emerged until they gave up the ghost in the final minutes of trading. Gilead management also left a degree of hope for their would-be miracle drug. The bottom line is while still fragile, this news would have broken the investors rather than simply dent their renewed optimism.

It Looked Better Under the Hood

The internals held up even as stocks were sinking into the close. All key measures of market breadth were positive, including more 52-week highs on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Composite. What stood out was the advancing volume versus declining volume.

Mixed Leadership

Early in the session, most S&P sectors were higher, but it became more of a mixed bag into the closing bell. Defensive sectors struggled most of the day as buyers were focused on making money, not just seeking shelter.

Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) was the stock of the day after posting results that saw improved operating ratio and earnings, as revenue per shipment +3.9%, ex-fuel surcharge +4.6%.

Market Leadership

Although the media remained fixated on oil - which has recovered nicely from woes earlier in the week - the fact is crude oil didn’t lead the broad market higher. In fact, crude oil companies and stocks do not have the clout once wielded over a decade ago when politicians were calling them out on every campaign stump.

Right now, I think most action is from fast money traders, and I don’t rule out another test when the May contract expires. The S&P 500 is much more influenced by household heavyweights: Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google (see below). Exxon Mobil is #24, and Chevron is #32 in weights in the S&P 500.

Portfolio Approach

Today’s Session

This morning two big names, American Express (AXP) and Verizon (VZ) posted earnings, which beat, but Covid 19 had a big impact on results.

• American Express first-quarter profit of $1.98 beat expectations, although revenue missed, falling 1% to $10.31 billion. Consumer services revenue rose 4%, commercial services revenue was flat, and merchant and network services revenue fell 10%. Chief Executive Stephen Squeri stated, "The first two months of 2020 continued the strong momentum we have delivered over the past two years, but we're now in a different world." He added, "The deterioration in the economy due to COVID-19 impacts that began in the first quarter and accelerated in April has dramatically impacted our volumes."

• Verizon Q1 EPS $1.260 beat the estimate of $1.230 with revenues of $31.60 billion. Users were down and the company cut its 2020 outlook for EPS to a range of -2% to 2% from 2%-4%. In its filing, Verizon stated, "We have seen considerably less churn in the consumer wireless base and lower equipment volumes and upgrade rates since the beginning of the crisis." They added, "As a result of these changing customer behaviors, we experienced significantly lower equipment revenue in first quarter 2020."

The major indices are in the modestly in the green this morning.