It was a rocky session, but key equity indices held on to gains.  Everyone was waiting for the close and earnings from two mega-cap names.

• COMPQ +0.93%
• IWM +0.82%
• DJI +0.62%
• SPX +0.72

There was a decidedly cautionary feel to the session, which was led by Utilities.  Only the Energy sector finished lower.

Movers

It's not every day you see Verizon (VZ) lead the pack.  Materials got a nice boost, and Industrials climbed higher, led by General Electric (GE); feels like the good old days.

There was also a smattering of bottom fishing, too.

Ouch!

This is still an unforgiving market, making it tricky for investors, as names that sell off in this environment will be punished more than usual.

I also hate to break this, despite the fact FICO was the hardest hit name in the S&P 500, they will still get their cut of your paycheck on Friday.

Flash PMI is Slightly Above the Consensus

Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that activity appears to be picking up as expectations grow that the Federal Reserve's tightening cycle has ended.

"Hopes of a soft landing for the US economy will be encouraged by the improved situation seen in October. The S&P Global PMI survey has been among the most downbeat economic indicators in recent months, so the upturn in US output growth signaled at the start of the fourth quarter is good news," he said in the report.

"The survey's selling price gauge is now close to its pre-pandemic long-run average and consistent with headline inflation dropping close to the Fed's 2% target in the coming months, something which looks likely to be achieved without output falling into contraction," he said.

The Richmond Fed Survey was a mixed bag with lots of negative prints, but prices are growing slower.

Earnings

MSFT

• $56.5 billion beat by $1.95 billion
• Operating Margins 48, +5 pp from a year ago
• EPS $2.99 beat by $0.34
• Azure +28% from +27% in the prior quarter

Shares closed above the 50-day moving average and were rallying after hours.

Earnings

GOOGL

• $76.7 billion beat by $1.08 billion
• Operating Margin 28, +3 pp from a year ago
• EPS $1.55 beat by $0.10
• Cloud $8.4 billion +22%

Shares closed above the 50-day moving average but were moving lower in after hours trading.

Soft Landing

Visa (V) posted a beat on the top and bottom, and the CEO gave glowing remarks on the state of the economy.  Some would say, that’s talking your book.

With $3.0 trillion more in consumer credit available, the consumer could stay “strong” for a long time, but there would be hell to pay.

Today’s Session

We are reminded this morning that missing or simply not impressing the street in this environment means instant and excessive pain.

Lots of big hits on big names.

Let’s allow things to shake out.

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